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The Intriguing World Of Entertainment

Whatever Happened To Jeri Ryan, ‘Seven of Nine’ From Star Trek: Voyager?

By Courtney Dercqu | August 3, 2023

Jeri Ryan captivated Star Trek fans in the late 1990s with her standout portrayal of former Borg drone Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager. With her signature skintight catsuit and icy blunt delivery, Seven of Nine became one of the most popular characters in the Star Trek universe. Ryan’s nuanced performance humanized the character and showed her gradual rediscovery of her own humanity after being disconnected from the Borg collective. Here’s what she’s been up to.

She was born Jeri Lynn Zimmerman, into a military family on February 22, 1968. Her father, Gerhard Florian Zimmerman, was in the Army, so Ryan lived in many parts of the U.S. including Maryland, Georgia, Kansas, Hawaii, and Texas. When her father retired in 1979, they relocated permanently to Paducah, Kentucky. 

After graduating from Northwestern University Chicago with a degree in theater in 1990, she moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career – and did start landing roles relatively soon.

Early Career

In 1990 Jeri Ryan competed in the Miss America pageant where she would represent Illinois and place third runner-up. For the talent portion of the contest, she would perform the song “On My Own” from Les Misérables.

Her first acting credit occurred in 1991 when she guest starred as Pam on Who’s the Boss and later Felicia Kane in the Flash and she would also make an appearance on Matlock.

Her first big break wouldn’t be until 1997 when she landed the role of Juliet Stewart in the TV series, Dark Skies. 

One of her first regular roles was on the short-lived TV show Dark Skies where she played the role of Juliet Stuart. The show was created to capitalize on the popularity of sci-fi shows like The X-Files.

Unfortunately, it was canceled after one season due to low ratings. It would be the cancellation of this show that would eventually lead to Ryan’s biggest role yet: Star Trek: Voyager!

Star Trek Voyager

Jeri Ryan would join the cast of Star Trek: Voyager in 1997 during its fourth season. She would take on the role of Seven of Nine, a former member of the Borg who struggles with her humanity. The character would become popular with fans and would remain a part of the show until its cancellation in 2001, appearing in 100 episodes altogether.

Jeri says she declined the role several times before eventually accepting the role from the producers, because she feared she would be pigeonholed in the Star Trek universe for the rest of her career.

The character was introduced to the show as a contrast to Kate Mulgrew’s character of Captain Janeway, much like Spock was to Captain Kirk in the original series. However, once Jeri Ryan tried on her costume for the role, it was apparent that this wasn’t the only reason for adding her to the cast. 

Seven of Nine’s Catsuit

The show’s reason for Seven of Nine’s catsuit was that the suit helped her regenerate skin.

In an interview in 1999, Jeri Ryan said she there was no question as to why her character was added to the show. She said it was clearly for the sex appeal.

Fans praised her performance as Seven of Nine, notably how she was able to balance the cold, emotionless Borg side of her character with the flashes of emotion that would humanize her from time to time, making her character much more than just sex appeal to draw in viewers.

On-Set Feud With Kate Mulgrew

Not everything on the set of Star Trek: Voyager was great for Jeri Ryan. Her addition to the show in its fourth season led to on-set issues between her and co-star Kate Mulgrew.

Garrett Wang, who played Operations Officer Harry Kim, said the feud was fueled by jealousy. Kate Mulgrew was the star and face of the show at the time. She appeared on covers of magazines and was on talk shows, but as soon as Jeri Ryan appeared on the show, all the attention was redirected. All the press and the media shifted toward Jeri Ryan.

Kate felt the show was no longer about the first female captain anymore and was relegated to the sex appeal of Seven of Nine.

Jeri commented at a Star Trek convention that the Paramount publicity department went into overdrive promoting Seven of Nine, because they felt it was their chance at pushing Star Trek: Voyager into the mainstream.

She also went on to say that Seven of Nine became the focal point of the show and was the a-storyline and b-storyline of almost every episode of the show.

Although Kate complained that Jeri should be written off the show, the writers and producers refused. Kate then openly became hostile toward Jeri and even suggested that Jeri should not be able to use the bathroom during filming, because of how much time it takes for her to get in and out of her costume.

Jeri Ryan commented that the situation with Kate Mulgrew was very difficult and working on the set was not fun, specifically the first season. She went on to say that she would get nauseous before getting on set because the situation was so stressful.

Mulgrew was silent about the issue for years, refusing to address the rumors. However at a convention in 2018 she addressed a fan’s question and said that although she was disappointed with the direction of the show, where producers and writers dropped the first female captain narrative and instead focused on Jeri Ryan’s beauty and sexuality, she still commended Jeri for putting in a ‘very solid performance’ that drew in viewers.

What did Jeri Ryan do after Star Trek Voyager?

After leaving Star Trek: Voyager, Ryan joined the cast of Boston Public from 2001-2004, however, that was one of her longer-lasting gigs for a while.

Once she left Boston Public, she mainly had bit parts here and there, including roles on The O.C. and Boston Legal.

She was a recurring cast member as Jessica Devlin on Shark from 2006-2008, and as Kate Murphy on Body of Proof from 2011-2013. 

Before filming Body of Proof, Jeri was able to watch two real life autopsies. She said, although it was morbid and she was sad for the deceased, it was absolutely fascinating.

She also played Veronica Allen on the TV series Bosch for three years, ending in 2019, and since reprise her role as Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Picard, which is still set to air its next season in 2023. 

What is Jeri Ryan doing now?

In 2020, Jeri Ryan reprise the role of Seven Of Nine in Star Trek: Picard, starring alongside Patrick Stewart and several other notable Star Trek alumni. In the first season she was a recurring character and in the second season she became a main cast member.

Star Trek writer, James Duff, approached Jeri about the idea and she eventually warmed up to it.

She had initially planned to stay away from Star Trek forever after the series ended in 2001. The decision was influenced by the tension that existed between her and Kate Mulgrew during the filming of “Voyager.” Ryan even mentioned in a 2019 interview that scenes with Mulgrew made her nauseous.

Despite her determination not to return, the fan base’s love for her character and a different version of Seven of Nine offered in “Star Trek: Picard” changed her mind. Ryan expressed immense satisfaction with the opportunities and character development she received in “Picard,” describing it as a “delightful surprise.” The way her character’s storyline concluded in the third and final season of “Picard” has left Ryan open to playing Captain Seven of Nine in a potential spin-off named “Star Trek: Legacy.” Though not yet in production, the series has generated excitement among fans.

Ryan’s initial rocky start with Star Trek has transformed into a fulfilling experience, and she acknowledges that returning to the role was the best decision she made for her character. Her journey illustrates how a character can evolve and how an actor’s relationship with a role can change over time, leading to new and unexpected opportunities.

Conventions

You can often find Jeri at Star Trek conventions . In 2022, she attended the 56-Year Mission Las Vegas convention, the London Film and Comic Con and the The Sci-Fi Summit in New Jersey and she will be attending the Destination Star Trek convention in Germany in September.

Jeri mentioned on a podcast that she didn’t attend conventions for a while because of issues with stalkers. She said she started attending again after convention organizers beefed up security for her. She revealed that at one convention, the security was on top of it and located a stalker immediately and removed him from the convention.

Her Marriage to Jack Ryan

Around the time she graduated college, Jeri met Jack Ryan, who at the time was an investment banker, at a local charity event. About a year later, they were married and went on to have a son, Alex, who was born on August 15, 1994. 

Jeri’s marriage to Jack Ryan wasn’t without its controversy, as they both agreed to have their divorce records shared with the public since Ryan was pursuing a political career in the U.S. Senate.

However, a Los Angeles judge would also reveal the couple’s child custody files, which revealed accusations Jeri levied against Jack about him requesting her to perform sexual acts on him in public. 

Though Jack Ryan publicly denied the allegations made against him, it put an end to his political career and gave the edge to his main opponent, Barack Obama. 

Jeri Ryan’s Marriage to Christophe Émé 

Like with her first marriage, Jeri met her current husband at another charity event. While attending a chef charity event in 2003, Jeri met French chef, Christophe Émé.

After four years of dating, the couple got married in June 2007 in a small, intimate ceremony at the Logis-de-Poelier in France. 

Émé is a Michelin rated chef who is most known for appearing on the television show, Iron Chef America: The Series.

Both he and Ryan co-owned Ortolan, a popular French restaurant in Los Angeles.

Ortolan is named after the French bird that is controversially prepared in French cuisine by being drowned in brandy and eaten whole.

Before being consumed, diners cover their head and face with a towel to retain the aroma of the bird.

The French government banned the use of the Ortolan in cuisine in 1999 to preserve the species, as it numbers in the wild was getting dangerously low.

Jeri recalls in an interview that during her time on Star Trek Voyager, fans of the show would often send her art and one of the most memorable pieces of art she received was of an Ortolan bird, drawn in the style of a Borg.

Alexander Ryan

Jeri Ryan has two children: a son, Alexander Ryan, from her first marriage to Jack Ryan.

Alex was born on August 15, 1994. When he was 17 years old, Alexander was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, which is on the autism spectrum and makes it hard for someone to communicate.

When he was 21 years old, he participated in the College Internship Program , which helps young adults with disabilities learn how to be self sufficient. In the program he lived in an apartment building with other young adults and they learned how to manage a household, build effective social skills and secure steady employment.

Gisele Lynn Eme

She also has a daughter, Gisele Lynn Eme with her current husband, who was born on March 2, 2008. At the time of her birth, Ryan was 40 years old. 

Gisele is currently in middle school and enjoys riding horses in her free time.

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About Courtney Dercqu

Courtney Dercqu is a freelance writer from New Jersey. When she’s not writing about pop culture, she can be found making homemade Minnie Ears, thrifting, watching daily re-runs of the Office and Portlandia, and scheduling awkward J.C.Penney photo shoots with her friends. Her work has been published in Thought Catalog, Elite Daily, Collective World, WDW Vacation Tips, and many others. Follow her on Instagram @kort_nay More from Courtney

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My Lunch With Kate Mulgrew: Owning the Havok She Wreaked On the ‘Star Trek’ Set

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You may know Kate Mulgrew today for her Emmy-nominated role of Red in Netflix’s Orange is the New Black , and she is well-deserving of the acclaim that was being showered on her. In fact, it was only the latest achievement of a career that may have begun inauspiciously in a TV spin-off no one asked for, Mrs. Columbo (later retitled Kate Loves a Mystery ), but in 1995 Kate was breaking barriers by being cast as Capt. Kathryn Janeway on the TV series Star Trek: Voyager . As such, she was the first female captain in the franchise’s then near-30 year history. It may not seem important now, but then it was tremendously so.

(Photo Credit: Getty Images)

At the time I’d been Senior Editor at a magazine called Cinescape , and Star Trek in all of its forms was one of my beats. As such, I interviewed Kate a number of times for the magazine, first on her casting, and then during the show’s first few seasons. And while the show itself didn’t blow me away, I was stunned by what an ambassador of goodwill she was, the unflagging enthusiasm she conveyed whenever met with the fact that she was an inspiration to a generation of young girls. One could understand how exciting that could be.

In the fourth season, the muckity-mucks decided that the show needed a ratings boost; they wanted to go after the young male demographic and to do so thought Voyager needed more sex appeal. To that end they created a character known as Seven of Nine (not to bore you with the tech, but she was assimilated into a machine race known as the Borg, was rescued by Janeway, and had to re-acclimate to her own humanity). Actress Jeri Ryan was cast in the role, dressed in an outfit that looked like it had been painted on, and the number crunchers proved themselves right. I was on the set of the series shortly before Jeri made her debut and I sat with her for an interview and knew right then and there that Star Trek truly was about to go where it hadn’t gone before.

So Seven of Nine makes her debut, and the ratings go through the roof. There are posters of Jeri Ryan selling like crazy, the actress is on the cover of virtually every magazine you could think of, and the media — as it’s wont to do — was all about the shiny new object, somehow leaving Kate in the dust. And it hurt. Not that you’d ever know it from the outside looking in. She sang the praises of her new co-star, talked about the virtues of Star Trek , and Janeway’s continuing evolution, but something had definitely changed.

Personally, for about 20 years I hadn’t realized how big a change there had been. Flash forward to 2015, and my co-author Mark A. Altman and I were writing a two-volume oral history of Star Trek called The Fifty-Year Mission , which we hoped would be (and hopefully is) the definitive behind the scenes history of the franchise. For that book we spoke to Voyager executive producer Rick Berman, who commented on that situation, “Kate was sort of the Queen of Star Trek at that point. She hung out with astronauts, she hung out with Hillary Clinton, and she was the spokesman for women in leadership roles, and for a lot of things. All of a sudden, this busty, gorgeous, blond babe appears who took away everybody’s breath. I literally once remember some press being on the stage and just sort of pushing by Kate to get to Jeri. So there was a little antagonism that existed right through to the end of the show with those two ladies.”

That sounded odd to us, but as we continued to do interviews, it was a theme that began being repeated. We reached out a number of times to speak to Kate, but our requests were pretty much met with silence. Her co-stars, however, weren’t silent. Garrett Wang, who played Operations Officer Harry Kim, told us, “Seasons one through three, Kate did every bit of amazing PR that was out there. She was on the cover of Entertainment Weekly , she was interviewed by Bill Maher and Jon Stewart. But the minute Jeri Ryan came in, all the thunder went to her. In the beginning, Kate’s anger was not directed toward Jeri Ryan, it was directed toward the character of Seven of Nine. She was the female captain, and now you bring in this borderline T-and-A character. When the writers/producers said no [about getting rid of her], she kept complaining. Finally her anger was turned toward the actress playing the character, Jeri Ryan. That’s when it became horrible.”

“At one point, Kate pulled the line producer aside and said, ‘Jeri Ryan is not allowed to use the bathroom unless she uses it before work or after work, but not during work,” another castmate added. “It takes too much time to get her in and out of that suit. It’s wasting time.’ Okay, so you’re trying to tell another human being that they’re not allowed to urinate? She’s just got to hold it? Are you kidding me? Obviously it didn’t happen; they didn’t honor that request.”

Robert Beltran, who played first officer Chakotay, commented, “The crew was uncomfortable, the actors were uncomfortable, and there was no reason for it. During filming it could go very beyond what I would have tolerated. If it had been the other way where it was me being insulted and Kate was a man, I probably would have taken a swipe at the guy. But that’s me.”

But then there’s Jeri Ryan, who admitted to me, “The situation with Kate was very… difficult. It was not a fun work experience, particularly the first season. It was very difficult. I completely understand why. I get it, believe me, but it was very difficult. I had mornings, that first season especially, where I’d be nauseous before I went to work that morning, because I was so stressed. The second season wasn’t a whole lot easier…Overall, this was not my favorite work experience for that reason.”

Well . That (and what was not reported above) was a hell of a lot of “ammunition” if the intent was to go after somebody. It wasn’t. In my career I’ve never targeted anyone and have tried my best to be fair. I’ve always felt it was an honor to be able to do what I do, and never wanted to tarnish that. So we had to again try to get Kate’s side of things. We wrote. Nothing. We wrote again. Nothing. Finally I wrote her people, commenting that we were handing in the manuscript soon, and would really like to speak to Kate, casually mentioning for the first time who we had spoken to. Damn if we didn’t get a response. In fact, it was to be a lunch meeting between Kate and myself in Manhattan on March 19, 2015.

And I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a wonderful lunch and interview. Kate was friendly and forthcoming, enthusiastic over the impact she made as Janeway, reflecting on her time on the bridge, what it was like to say goodbye when it was over, and more. And then I mentioned that there was still something I had to bring up, which I took no pleasure in doing. She must have known what it was going to be, because she wasn’t really smiling anymore, but was suggesting I “just say it.” So I did. I mentioned that her co-stars had been critical of her behavior where Jeri Ryan was concerned, that there was tremendous tension on the set and so on. It was, unfortunately, going to be a “gossipy” part of the book, and if Kate was in a defensive mood, it was going to get worse.

She wasn’t. In fact, in the moments that followed, Kate Mulgrew had completely turned the narrative and gone from perceived Starfleet villainess to someone worthy of sitting in the captain’s chair (not to get too geeky on you, but anyone who knows me recognizes it doesn’t take much).

“Let’s be very straight about something,” said Kate matter of factly “This is on me , not Jeri. She came in and did what she was asked to do. No question about that, and she did it very well. It’s on me, because I’d hoped against hope that Janeway would be sufficient. That we didn’t have to bring a beautiful, sexy girl in. That somehow the power of my command, the vicissitudes of my talent would be sufficient unto the day, because this would really change television, right? That’s what dug me the hardest, that to pick up the numbers they did that… That was my interpretation of it. And that hurt me. I found it sort of insulting. And, of course, she embodied the part, this beautiful girl. But we certainly were utterly professional. I had been nothing short of completely professional, and she did her job. Very well! It was a very good idea that she was half Borg, but it’s on me. I’m sorry it has to be part of this legacy, and I probably should have comported myself better. I should have been more philosophical about it, but in the moment it was difficult.”

Deal of the Day

Probably not as difficult as facing up to that controversy publicly in a way she hadn’t done so before, but I couldn’t have felt more respect for her. Mission accomplished, I began the trek back home. We had a book to finish .

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Star Trek: Voyagers 7 Biggest Janeway & Chakotay Feuds, Ranked Worst To Best

This article contains a brief reference to depression and suicide.

• Janeway and Chakotay had intense feuds in Star Trek: Voyager, especially in "Scorpion" and "Equinox."
• Feuds ranged from more to less memorable as the seasons progressed, showing the evolution of the character's relationship
• Conflicts like the ones in "The Voyager Conspiracy" and "Night" highlighted Janeway and Chakotay's dynamics and growth.

Despite a close relationship on Star Trek: Voyager , Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and Commander Chakotay (Robert Beltran) had some intense feuds during the show's seven seasons. Janeway and Chakotay are one of the most interesting command teams in the Star Trek timeline . The two started as fairly cut-and-dry enemies when Janeway was sent to track down Chakotay's Maquis ship after it disappeared in the Badlands. However, after both her and Chakotay's crews became stranded in the Delta Quadrant in Voyager 's pilot episode, "Caretaker," Janeway and Chakotay agreed to combine their resources and work together to get home.

After Chakotay's crew became part of Voyager 's cast of characters , Janeway and Chakotay embarked on building an intense friendship that was sometimes charged with romantic chemistry. Despite never becoming a couple on Voyager , the two shared an intimacy that most other Star Trek command teams did not , and this was evident in numerous episodes of the series. Janeway and Chakotay generally worked well together, eventually navigating their ship and crew to safety back in the Alpha Quadrant by the end of Voyager 's run, but there were also numerous times when they didn't get along.

Star Trek Voyager: Why Janeway & Chakotay Never Became A Couple

Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay were never romantically involved on Star Trek: Voyager, thanks in part to a request made by Kate Mulgrew.

Season 2, episode 14

"Alliances" was one of the earliest Voyager episodes that depicted a real conflict between Janeway and Chakotay, but ultimately the feud was contained to a single episode and had little impact on the show as a whole. During the episode, Janeway and Chakotay engaged in an argument over whether to attempt an alliance with the Kazon, who had been terrorizing the ship since Voyager season 1. In actuality, the fight between Janeway and Chakotay boiled down to whether or not to adopt more Maquis principles and tactics to survive in the Delta Quadrant against things like that Kazon's attacks.

Ultimately, although an interesting microcosm of some larger issues in Voyager 's first couple of seasons, "Alliances" didn't contain a particularly juicy Janeway and Chakotay feud.

While the discussion of Starfleet vs. Maquis issues was interesting, this feud was so short-lived that it's almost completely forgettable in the grand scheme of Voyager 's timeline. The fact that the episode heavily involved the Kazon also didn't help the popularity of Janeway and Chakotay's argument . The Kazon were a universally hated Voyager villain, and most of their storylines ended up being ones that audiences would rather forget. Ultimately, although an interesting microcosm of some larger issues in Voyager 's first two seasons, "Alliances" didn't contain a particularly juicy Janeway and Chakotay feud.

Season 1, episode 3

Aside from their minimal conflict in Voyager 's pilot episode , the first real fight between Janeway and Chakotay happened in episode 2, "Parallax," over the question of who would become the ship's Chief Engineer. The feud centered around whether it was a good idea to promote the former Maquis B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson) to Chief Engineer over the Starfleet Lieutenant Carey (Josh Clark). While Janeway was on Carey's side initially, she ended up getting persuaded by B'Elanna's actions during the episode and Chakotay's argument.

Although the conflict over B'Elanna in "Parallax" was great at establishing Voyager 's character dynamics, it was also fairly short-lived, not progressing much beyond one episode. The conflict was also understandable since Janeway was still feeling her way into trusting Chakotay and his crew, and the argument ended by showing that she could rely on his judgment. The issues at stake were more interesting than "Alliances," but the outcome was fairly predictable and easily forgotten about once everything was resolved.

Year Of Hell, Parts 1 & 2

Season 4, episodes 8 & 9.

Often considered one of Voyager 's best two-part episodes , "Year of Hell, Parts 1 & 2" also contained a more nuanced conflict between Janeway and Chakotay . As the result of a series of devastating attacks by Annorax (Kurwood Smith) of the Krenim Imperium, the USS Voyager was severely damaged, with the crew suffering multiple injuries. Over the course of several months, Annorax's attacks progressed, further destroying the ship. Throughout this, there was tension between Janeway and Chakotay about whether to abandon the ship to save the crew or stay and keep fighting.

Even though it didn't air until midway through season 4, the "Year of Hell" storyline was teased in Voyager season 3 during the Kes-centric episode "Before and After."

Despite the caliber of "Year of Hell" as an episode, Janeway and Chakotay's conflict in the storyline was surprisingly short-lived, and even before it ended, never particularly heated. It was clear that Chakotay was firmly on the side of abandoning ship during the episode, but he kept his opinions mostly to himself and instead generally worked to keep Janeway from losing her humanity during her relentless fight against Annorax's attacks . Chakotay was also captured by the Krenim at the end of the episode's Part 1, effectively ending any more direct contact with Janeway.

The Voyager Conspiracy

Season 6, episode 9.

A highly amusing episode, "The Voyager Conspiracy" provided one of the few times Janeway and Chakotay were tricked into a feud rather than naturally finding one between themselves. In this case, Seven of Nine's (Jeri Ryan) paranoid behavior after a botched assimilation of a massive amount of the ship's data caused Janeway and Chakotay to suspect each other of plotting behind the other's back. In reality, Seven essentially pitted the two against each other needlessly , which Janeway and Chakotay discovered only after a suspicion-laced conversation.

Although their conflict in "The Voyager Conspiracy" was manufactured, Janeway and Chakotay's confusion and suspicion of each other during the episode was truly fun to watch . Seven's ability to effectively set them at odds was quite hilarious, and a case of misunderstanding or misinterpretation always makes for good conflict. On the flip side, the end of the episode reaffirmed Janeway and Chakotay's friendship during a scene where they agree to never stop trusting each other again. Even though the conflict went no further, the complete arc of it was satisfying.

Seven Of Nines Worst Voyager Relationship Explained By Star Trek Actors

Seven and Chakotay's romance never worked in Star Trek: Voyager and Jeri Ryan and Robert Beltran have been vocal about why their love story failed.

Season 5, episode 1

"Night" contained one of the more emotionally intense feuds between Janeway and Chakotay , mostly because it surrounded Janeway's mental health. The episode kicked off season 5 with a storyline that saw Voyager's crew traveling through a completely starless region of space. This had numerous psychological effects on the crew, most of all Janeway who fell into a deep depression. Throughout the episode, she continually butted heads with Chakotay over whether she was still fit to run the ship, stubbornly refusing to come out of her quarters until the episode's conflict forced her back out into the open.

"Night" revealed a lot about Janeway and Chakotay's characters and how their relationship was faring roughly five years into their journey home.

It should be noted that Janeway and Chakotay's conflict in "Night" was not the result of any failing on either part, but rather Janeway's deteriorated mental health causing her to be too hard on herself. Still, the tension between Janeway and Chakotay during the episode was genuinely dramatic and made for some powerful scenes, culminating in Chakotay needing to talk Janeway down from going on essentially a suicide mission with the rest of the crew's help. "Night" revealed a lot about Janeway and Chakotay's characters and how their relationship was faring roughly five years into their journey home.

Scorpion, Parts 1 & 2

Season 3, episode 26, and season 4, episode 1.

When considering episodes with Janeway and Chakotay feuds during Voyager 's run, "Scorpion Parts 1 & 2" stand out above the rest. The episodes themselves reached new heights for Voyager , featuring the introduction of Species 8472 and acting as the start of the show's substantial Borg plotline thanks to the first appearance of Seven of Nine. However, amid all the chaos of Voyager 's first foray into Borg space, "Scorpion" was at heart a reexamination of Janeway and Chakotay's relationship, pushing their trust in each other to the limit .

"Scorpion's" main source of the conflict was Janeway's desire to ally with the Borg, something no other Starfleet crew had accomplished. Although the beginning reaffirmed how much Janeway relied on Chakotay, his clear dislike of her plan led to a massive rift between the two by the end of Part 1. In Part 2, things devolved even further when Chakotay broke his promise to uphold the alliance during his command of the ship when Janeway was injured. "Scorpion" showed the first major breach of trust between the two characters , and introduced more complex dynamics into their relationship.

Equinox, Parts 1 & 2

Season 5, episode 26, and season 6, episode 1.

Of all the feuds that Janeway and Chakotay had throughout Voyager , the one in "Equinox Parts 1 & 2" was unequivocally the best, most intense fight the two ever engaged in . The episode is another strong two-parter, revolving around Voyager's crew encountering another Starfleet ship in the Delta Quadrant, the USS Equinox. When it became clear that the Equinox crew had heavily compromised their principles by slaughtering an alien species to use as fuel to get them home faster, Captain Janeway began a relentless pursuit to try and bring them to justice.

While Chakotay didn't agree with what the Equinox crew had done, it was Janeway's brutal tactics that led to conflict between the two. In fact, Chakotay nearly committed mutiny against Janeway after she almost killed an Equinox crew member while torturing him for information. Things got so bad that Janeway briefly removed Chakotay from command, and although the conflict was resolved, their relationship was left more shaken than it had ever been. Out of all the feuds between Janeway and Chakotay in Star Trek: Voyager , it is the most surprising that they ever recovered from the events of "Equinox."

Star Trek: Voyager

Cast Jennifer Lien, Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Robert Duncan McNeill, Roxann Dawson, Robert Beltran, Kate Mulgrew, Jeri Ryan, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo

Release Date May 23, 1995

Genres Sci-Fi, Adventure

Network UPN

Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Franchise(s) Star Trek

Writers Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Showrunner Kenneth Biller, Jeri Taylor, Michael Piller, Brannon Braga

Rating TV-PG

Where To Watch Paramount+

Seven Of Nine's Arrival On Star Trek: Voyager Came With Some Growing Pains

Sometimes, the greatest and most famous characters on a television show are the ones who were added part-way through the series. That's absolutely the case with "Star Trek: Voyager" and its breakout character, liberated Borg drone Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). Joining the show in season 4 , Seven's sex appeal was obvious, but she rose beyond the expectations for a fan-service character. Her journey back to something resembling normalcy after being assimilated made her one of the few characters on the show with concrete character development, and Ryan played the part excellently. Instantly popular, she practically became the show's star, especially in advertising. 

Of course, not all of Ryan's castmates took kindly to having the spotlight diverted from them, and this led to some friction behind the scenes.

Reintroducing the Borg

In "Voyager," the titular ship is stranded in the Delta Quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. Two crews, Voyager's own and members of the rebel movement the Maquis, must join forces to get back home to the Alpha Quadrant. The Delta Quadrant had been established as home to the Borg , but the writers held off on giving their heroes such a challenge during the first two seasons. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" established a single Borg Cube could wipe out a Federation fleet; showing a single, lone Starfleet vessel besting them week after week would've strained credibility. Plus, villains as scary as the Borg are best served in small doses.

The Borg first appeared on "Voyager" during season 3 episode "Unity," which features a group of drones disconnected from the larger collective. This premise wasn't exactly a novel idea; "TNG" episodes "I, Borg," and "Descent" had previously used "drones cut off from the larger Borg" as a way to tell a Borg story minus apocalyptic stakes. However, the episode had a significant, albeit indirect, impact on the larger direction that "Voyager" charted.

According to "Star Trek Voyager: A Celebration" (by Ben Robinson and Mark Wright), when writer and producer Brannon Braga was watching a promo for "Unity," an idea for a disconnected Borg drone joining Voyager's crew came to him. His producing partner Rick Berman was also for the idea, but steered the concept away from a "cybernetic looking creature" like Braga initially envisioned. Instead, the character would give "Voyager" new sex appeal.

The two-part season 3 finale and season 4 premiere "Scorpion" introduced Seven of Nine. In these episodes, USS Voyager forms an alliance with the Borg against extra-dimensional invaders known as Species 8472. The collective chooses Seven as a representative to communicate with Voyager. When the alliance is over, she turns on the crew, who respond by severing her link to the collective. Now an individual for the first time since childhood, Seven is slowly assimilated by Voyager.

Ryan speaks up

"Scorpion" marks a sea change for "Voyager." From there on out, the Borg became the main villains of the series. Plus, as Seven came onto the show, Kes (Jennifer Lien) departed . For many years, rumors swirled that the price of Jeri Ryan joining the show was another cast member getting the boot; however, based on interviews with the cast and crew conducted for "A Celebration" by Robinson and Wright, Lien's personal problems, including substance abuse, were affecting her performance and this was the real reason for her leaving.

Still, that left Ryan in the always awkward position of the new guy, not helped by her being the effective replacement for someone the rest of the cast had acted alongside for three years. During an appearance on the "girl on guy" podcast in 2013, Ryan recounted the ups and downs of her "Voyager" experience; the transition was far from easy:

"That's hard when the new kid comes in and suddenly it's all about them. That was tough, and it was particularly tough for some more than others, which was not real fun ... basically, until I started dating [Brannon Braga]. Once I was dating the boss, funny how things suddenly cleaned up. But it was really, really tough the first couple of years. and there were many days when I was nauseous before going into work because it was that miserable. Just unnecessarily, intentionally unpleasant."

While Ryan doesn't single anyone out in her comments, behind-the-scenes gossip indicates there was one main party responsible for this unpleasantness: Captain Janeway herself, Kate Mulgrew.

Ryan vs. Mulgrew

One of Seven's most important relationships is with Captain Janeway, who becomes a mentor to her. One of the best "Voyager" episodes, "Dark Frontier," is essentially about Seven being torn between two mother figures: Janeway and the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson). However, according to the cast and crew, Mulgrew and Ryan's relationship was a different story. Rather than taking Ryan under her wing as Janeway did Seven, Mulgrew alienated her.  

"The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek" (by Edward Goss and Mark Altman) contains interviews with numerous "Voyager" cast and crew who shed light on the situation. In a nutshell, Mulgrew's treatment of Ryan was motivated by her frustrations that her character — a strong, empowered woman — was being upstaged by a role designed for maximum sex appeal. 

Speaking to Goss and Altman, Berman described the situation between the two actresses as such: 

"Kate was sort of the Queen of 'Star Trek'... She hung out with astronauts, she hung out with Hillary Clinton, and she was the spokesman for women in leadership roles, and for a lot of things. All of a sudden, this busty, gorgeous, blond babe appears who took away everybody's breath. I literally once remember some press being on the stage and just sort of pushing by Kate to get to Jeri."

In a separate interview for "The Fifty-Year Mission," Garret Wang (Harry Kim) added:

"Kate's anger was not directed toward Jeri Ryan, it was directed toward the character of Seven of Nine. She was the female captain, and now you bring in this borderline T-and-A character. When the writers/producers said no [to getting rid of Seven]... her anger was turned toward the actress playing the character, Jeri Ryan."

Mulgrew's attitude toward Ryan was steeped in her own frustrations, rather than being based on anything Ryan had done. Since the show concluded, Mulgrew has since cleared the air. In her own interview with Goss and Altman for "The Fifty-Year Mission," Mulgrew gave a more direct mea culpa:

"Let's be very straight about something. This is on me, not Jeri. She came in and did what she was asked to do. No question about that, and she did it very well. It's on me because I'd hoped against hope that Janeway would be sufficient. That we didn't have to bring a beautiful, sexy girl in. That somehow the power of my command, the vicissitudes of my talent would be sufficient unto the day, because this would really change television, right? That's what dug me the hardest, that to pick up the numbers they did that... that hurt me."

Seven overshadows the supporting cast

Mulgrew wasn't the only one who felt usurped by Ryan's role on the show. Speaking to StarTrek.com , Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay) said:

"When the Seven of Nine character made her entrance, the focus changed... That was fine with me, but I think writers have an obligation to fill out all the characters if they're regular characters on a series. I think several of the characters were diminished — Chakotay and Tuvok and Kim and Neelix."

Beltran isn't wrong, but the mishandling of those characters predates Seven's introduction. Characterization was never the show's strong suit on "Voyager." Mulgrew at least had strong acting chops to compensate for the inconsistent writing of Janeway, but many of her co-stars couldn't compare, leaving their characters to fall into broad archetypes.

By the time Ryan came onto the show, "Voyager" had totally failed to use the most exciting part of its premise — the Starfleet and Maquis schism. When interviewed for "The Fifty-Year Mission," writer Ron Moore (of "TNG," "Deep Space Nine", and briefly "Voyager") opined, "When the Maquis put on those Starfleet uniforms at the end of the pilot, the show was dead." Season 3 episode "Worst Case Scenario" (a pre-Seven episode, I might add) features a holodeck simulation of a Maquis mutiny on USS Voyager. The episode reeks of the writing staff trying to have it both ways: introduce exciting new character conflict  and preserve the status quo. Yet, the mutinous holographic Chakotay comes alive more than his real self ever does. With Chakotay reduced to a yes man, Seven wound up a better foil to Janeway than he ever was.

Not coincidentally, the one character who adapted best to the presence of Seven on "Voyager" who had been working well before her introduction: the Doctor (Robert Picardo).

My Fair Seven

"Star Trek" has a long tradition of characters learning what it meant to be human: Spock, Data, and Odo. At first, it seemed the Doctor would fill this role on "Voyager." An Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) modeled on Dr. Lewis Zimmerman (also played by Picardo), the Doctor has to become Voyager's full-time medical officer after his human counterpart is killed in the pilot. His character avoided being a rehash of Data (an artificial intelligence seeking to become more) thanks to his cranky bedside manner (which had more in common with Doctor McCoy) and Picardo's charming performance. 

However, once Seven was introduced and Kes was written out, Picardo became concerned. As he explained to StarTrek.com , 

"Kes had really been The Doctor's mentor. Officially, he's mentoring her as a medical assistant, but she has been mentoring him and developing his humanity. My concern was that she's been his emotional sounding board, his confessor. The moment she's gone, The Doctor is just going to go back to being a buffoon and a windbag."

When Picardo brought his concerns to Brannon Braga, the writer suggested the actor find a way for the Doctor and Seven to connect. Picardo elaborated,

"I ... suggested that we take the relationship that the Doctor had with Kes and we turn it around. So the Doctor thinks that the best person to teach Seven of Nine how to become human again is him ... Eventually, that culminated in 'Someone to Watch Over Me,' akin to Professor Higgins falling in love with his pupil in 'My Fair Lady.' That suggestion afforded me four seasons of great scenes with Jeri Ryan."

Instead of usurping the Doctor's role as she had some of the other cast, Seven brought his character full circle. Therein lies the benefit of having three-dimensional characters: it's easier to make their relationships with each other compelling.

Settling old wounds

Since "Voyager" concluded, it seems that Mulgrew has come to regret how she treated Ryan and has gained a new appreciation for what Seven brought to the show. At a Las Vegas "Star Trek" convention in 2018, Mulgrew praised Seven's character and Braga's writing of her relationship with Janeway, "Seven of Nine is what [brought] Janeway to life, as a deeply human woman, I believe. And I am deeply grateful for that."

While it's hard to excuse Mulgrew's behavior, one can empathize with the root of her frustrations. Despite the bullying she endured from Mulgrew, Ryan doesn't seem to regret her time on "Voyager" and is proud of Seven. In an interview with the Huffington Post,  she said:

"I don't have a problem with Seven's overtly sexual physical appearance, if only because of the way she was written and developed. If it was a crappy character, then OK. But she was so nuanced and beautifully written."

Indeed,  Ryan returned as Seven in "Star Trek" Picard." One only hopes her transition back into the role was easier than when she first jumped into it.

The Untold Truth Of Star Trek: Voyager

Part of the problem with exploring the final frontier? There's just  so much  of it. That's the challenge the crew of the USS  Voyager  had to contend with in  Star Trek: Voyager 's two-part premiere "Caretaker," when the ship was tossed so deep into the distant Delta Quadrant that the crew believed it would take them the better part of a century to get home. Cut off from Starfleet and the Federation, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) — the first female captain to lead a  Trek  series — struggled to get her crew home while at the same time upholding the Federation's values and even using the opportunity to expand their knowledge of unexplored space.

Voyager  followed the adventures of its crew for seven seasons until they finally made their way home in the two-part finale "Endgame." And through all the space battles, the romance, and the debates between  Voyager 's principled officers, there was a lot more going on behind the scenes than you know. Resentments ran high between certain cast members, some characters were created to pay tribute to fallen heroes, and other characters were revealed to have surprising connections to other series.  Voyager also   helped to launch the blockbuster career of one actor while proving a singular triumph for a young network. 

To learn about all these things and more, keep reading for the untold truth of  Star Trek: Voyager .

Star Trek: Voyager was the jewel of UPN's crown

Paramount used  Star Trek: Voyager  to help launch its new mini-network UPN (United Paramount Network) in January 1995. UPN only had a small number of shows when it launched and only aired programming Monday and Tuesday nights between 8 PM and 10 PM. That same month,  Voyager  was joined by the sitcom  Pig Sty , comedian Richard Jeni's  Platypus Man , the Richard Grieco-led drama  Marker , and the sci-fi/Western series  Legend . 

Voyager 's "Caretaker" was UPN's first telecast on January 16, 1995, and it had 21.3 million viewers tuning in. Of the network's five inaugural series,  Voyager was the only program to survive its first year . Yes, believe it or not, even a show with a name like Platypus Man  got the ax. Voyager  went on to outlive other early UPN series like  The Sentinel , the sci-fi drama  Nowhere Man , and the hit teen sitcom  Moesha . Although, to be fair, its final episode aired only a week after  Moesha 's . However, Voyager  was the only of UPN's early series to last as long as seven seasons. 

Kate Mulgrew almost wasn't Janeway

When it came time to cast Janeway,  Voyager 's casting team looked at a lot of actresses. Among the candidates was Linda Hamilton of the  Terminator  films , Susan Gibney who'd played the recurring role of Dr. Leah Brahms on  Star Trek: The Next Generation  ( TNG ), and the  Buck Rogers  alum Erin Gray. Of course, as we all know, eventually Kate Mulgrew auditioned for the role, and the part went to ... Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold .

That's right. In her 2015 memoir  Born with Teeth , Mulgrew wrote that her first audition for the role went so poorly that she actually apologized for her subpar performance. She explained that she was distracted by having just fallen in love with a man — Tim Hagan, who she married in 1999 — and that she was meeting him later. Instead of Mulgrew, Bujold was cast in the role of the character who was then named Elizabeth Janeway. 

However, Bujold didn't last much of the voyage. She quit after a day and a half of filming.  Voyager  co-creator Rick Berman said of Bujold's departure, "This was a woman who, in no way, was going to be able to deal with the rigors of episodic television." Considering  Star Trek  documentaries like What We Left Behind  and  The Captains  include cast and crew talking about 16-hour work days, it's tough to blame Bujold too much for leaving the crew to deal with the Delta Quadrant without her.

Star Trek: Voyager helped launch Dwayne Johnson's acting career

Star Trek  has helped launch plenty of acting careers, and  Voyager  gave an early role to someone known today for leading blockbuster action flicks. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson  — still mostly known as a WWF wrestler in those days — made one of his first non-wrestling television appearances in the  Voyager  season six episode "Tsunkatse."

While the rest of the crew is enjoying shore leave, Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) take a shuttle to examine a nearby nebula. While out on their own, they're attacked and captured by aliens running a popular fighting arena. Tuvok is badly injured, and the arena's owner uses the injured Vulcan as leverage to make Seven fight for him. Her first opponent is the Rock, who plays an unnamed Pendari champion. In a fun fourth wall-breaking moment, the Rock gives his signature eyebrow raise to the crowd before defeating Seven in the ring. 

Speaking to  StarTrek.com  in 2018, Rick Berman expressed a lot of pride for his part in building the foundation for Johnson's acting career, saying, "It makes me feel terrific ... that there are some actors that we gave a first job to that have become successful. People like Dwayne Johnson, whose first acting job I think was on Voyager , and he's a world-renowned movie star now." Technically, Berman wasn't right about that. Johnson showed up on  That '70s Show  a year before "Tsunkatse," but we're guessing the appearance on  Voyager  didn't hurt his resume.

On Netflix, Voyager is the Trek champion

Most  Trek  fans have their own pick for their favorite  Trek  series. So if a  Trek  fan ever tells you "everyone hates this series" or "everyone loves this one," never believe them. For every fan who loves  Deep Space Nine , there are plenty who can't stand it. For every Trekkie   who wishes  Discovery  had never been made, there are old school fans and new who love it. So we're not trying to tell you  Voyager  is the best  Star Trek  show, but some numbers have revealed something interesting about the series' 21st-century popularity. 

In 2017, Netflix reviewed data (via Business Insider ) from over 100 million subscribers in close to 200 countries to figure which episodes of  Star Trek were watched more than any others. At the time, Netflix carried all the franchise's series produced between  Star Trek: The Original Series  and the 2005 finale of  Star Trek: Enterprise . And during its research, Netflix didn't count first or second episodes of series, because those generally have more views than others. 

Voyager  and  The Next Generation  were the only two series with episodes in the top ten most watched, and of those ten episodes,  six  belong to  Voyager . Those six episodes help to prove the enduring popularity of both the Borg and  Voyager 's season four newcomer, Seven of Nine . Most of the six episodes are very Seven and Borg-centric. They include the series finale "Endgame," the two-parters "Scorpion" and "Dark Frontiers," and "The Gift," which is the episode immediately following Seven's first appearance.

Behind the camera, Janeway and Seven didn't assimilate well

Behind the scenes of Voyager , Mulgrew resented the addition of Seven of Nine, whose sex appeal helped to boost Voyager 's ratings. And on 2013's Girl on Gu y podcast (via TrekCore ), Ryan talked about feeling physically ill at the thought of doing scenes with a particular Voyager  co-star. She didn't name Mulgrew, but she mentioned details making it clear it could be no one other than the lead actress.

While researching his book  The Fifty-Year Mission , co-writer Ed Gross looked into the feud and got more answers than he expected. One unnamed cast member claimed Mulgrew tried to enforce a rule that Ryan wouldn't be allowed to use the bathroom during work because it took "too much time" to get her in and out of costume. Harry Kim actor Garrett Wang said Mulgrew's anger wasn't initially directed toward Ryan, but once it was, "it became horrible." Chakotay actor Robert Beltran told Gross, "If ... it was me being insulted and Kate was a man, I probably would have taken a swipe at the guy." 

To her credit, the  Voyager  captain owned up her behavior toward Ryan. Mulgrew told Gross, "This is on me , not Jeri [Ryan]. . ..  I'd hoped against hope that Janeway would be sufficient. That we didn't have to bring a beautiful, sexy girl in." She went on to say she regretted her treatment of Ryan. "I probably should have comported myself better. I should have been more philosophical about it, but in the moment, it was difficult."

Ensign Wildman paid tribute to a young hero

One of the more prominent recurring characters on  Voyager  was Ensign Samantha Wildman (Nancy Hower).  Voyager 's unexpected journey to the Delta Quadrant separated the pregnant Ensign Wildman from her husband by about 70,000 light years. But on the bright side, her half-alien daughter, Naomi, eventually turned into another favorite recurring figure on  Voyager , becoming close friends with Neelix (Ethan Phillips) and even the usually socially resistant Seven of Nine. 

Interestingly, Samantha Wildman's name has a special meaning. Wildman first appeared in the second season episode "Elogium," co-written by Jimmy Diggs. The same year he sold the script, Diggs' wife almost died. A kidney transplant saved her life, and Diggs learned the donor was a seven-year-old girl. He wrote a letter to  Voyager 's producers, asking them to name the episode's new character "Samantha" after the little girl whose kidney saved his wife. "The ancient Greeks believed the gods would reward heroic mortals by placing them in the stars," Diggs wrote. "By honoring the memory of this child, the producers of Star Trek  will accomplish the same thing."   Because the young girl adored animals, Ensign Wildman was not only given her name but made part of the ship's xenobiology department. 

The Doctor channeled Bones without knowing it

One of the more popular characters on  Voyager  was also its best source of comic relief — the Doctor played by Robert Picardo. The Doctor is an Emergency Medical Hologram meant only for short-term use, but his job gets much more involved when  Voyager 's human doctor dies after the ship is thrown into the Delta Quadrant. Often cranky and arrogant, the Doctor also told some powerful stories in his attempts to be recognized as deserving equal rights with the rest of the crew. 

Speaking to  StarTrek.com  in January 2020, Picardo said he used a unique tactic in his audition for the role of the Doctor without even knowing he was using it. After reading the last scripted line, "I believe someone has failed to terminate my program," Picardo improvised with, "I'm a doctor, not a nightlight." Picardo said the line "got a big laugh, and [he] was hired the next day."

Of course, what makes the ad-libbed line funny is the play on Dr. McCoy's (DeForest Kelley) penchant for saying, "I'm a doctor, not a _____." But apparently, Picardo had no idea about Kelley's famous catchphrase. He said, "I faked my way through the audition and ad-libbed a DeForest Kelley joke without knowing it was a DeForest Kelley joke." Apparently, the gods of cranky  Star Trek  physicians were with him that day.

Tuvok came close to being a TNG regular

Tim Russ actually had a few  Trek one-off   gigs before landing the role of Security Chief Tuvok on  Voyager . On  DS9 , he was a Klingon mercenary who helps take the station hostage in "Invasive Procedures," and in  TNG 's "Starship Mine," he's one of a group of criminals trying to steal trilithium resin from the  Enterprise . In 1994's  Star Trek: Generations , Russ plays a lieutenant on the bridge of the  Enterprise- B in the film's opening. 

But before he did any of that work, he auditioned for the part of Geordi La Forge on  TNG . Speaking to  TrekMovie.com  in 2018, Russ said he was ultimately relieved to have lost the Geordi role to Levar Burton. Why? The dialogue. "The role [of Tuvok] was somewhat more organic and much easier in terms of dialogue," Russ said . "I am glad I didn't get stuck with all that engineering tech talk. ... That kind of dialogue doesn't do anything for me."

Russ also had the distinction of getting to appear in one of the few episodes in which  Voyager  characters could cross over into other series. Tuvok shows up in the  DS9  season three episode "Through the Looking Glass," though it's not quite the same Tuvok. The episode takes place in the mirror universe first made famous by  Star Trek: The Original Series ' "Mirror, Mirror." That universe's version of Tuvok appears as a member of the Terran resistance fighting against the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.

Vorik may have a brother on the Enterprise

One of  Voyager 's recurring characters was Ensign Vorik, played by Alexander Enberg. Vorik is a Vulcan engineer who often worked closely with B'Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson). And Vorik developed a romantic interest in B'Elanna with violent consequences. In perhaps Vorik's most memorable appearance — in season three's "Blood Fever" — Vorik experiences the Vulcan mating period of pon farr and chooses B'Elanna as his mate. He forms a telepathic connection with B'Elanna, causing her violent Klingon mating instincts to emerge. The situation ends in a duel between B'Elanna and Vorik, which both thankfully survive. 

Between 1997 and 2001, Enberg appears in nine episodes of  Voyager as Vorik, but it wasn't the first time he appeared in a  Trek  show or even the first time he appeared as a Vulcan. Enberg was cast as a Vulcan named Taurik in "The Lower Decks," an episode in the middle of  TNG 's final season focusing on the rank and file aboard the  Enterprise . 

With Enberg not only playing Vulcans on both shows but with both Vulcans sharing rhyming names, some fans have wondered if there could be a connection between Vorik and Taurik. According to  Voyager  co-creator Jeri Taylor — who also happens to be Enberg's mother — there could be. In the 2012 book  Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 , Taylor implies Taurik and Vorik may very well be twin brothers. And since she's their mother, we guess she would know.

Chakotay spoke his mind both on and off Star Trek: Voyager

As  Voyager 's first officer, Commander Chakotay is often forced to tell Captain Janeway things she doesn't want to hear. Fittingly, actor Robert Beltran is known for speaking his mind on what he likes and doesn't like about  Voyager , regardless of the consequences, even when the show was still on the air. By 2000, Beltran had aired enough dirty laundry in public that producer Kenneth Biller told  SFX Magazine  (via  TrekToday ) that he thought the actor "should stop whining and do his job."

Speaking to  StarTrek.com  in 2012, Beltran talked about not feeling fulfilled on  Voyager . "You're doing the same thing every week, with a new variation," the actor said , later adding, "I didn't like some of the things that were going towards the last three years, and I risked being fired because I wasn't happy creatively."   According to Beltran , Chakotay didn't have a lot of interesting relationships after the departure of Seska (Martha Hackett), his former lover who's eventually revealed to be a Cardassian. "After Seska left, it was only that relationship with the captain that had depth to it. ... Chakotay and the other characters, there wasn't much of a relationship there."

And Beltran has one problem with  Trek  a lot of fans may consider downright sacrilegious. Beltran hates the Prime Directive. In 2016, he told CNET , "The idea of leaving any species to die in its own filth when you have the ability to help them ... it's a bunch of fascist crap."

All these years after Star Trek: Voyager, Janeway is still making an impact

Decades after Captain Janeway was sent to the Delta Quadrant with the rest of  Voyager 's crew, it can be easy to forget how big of a deal it was in 1995 for a woman to be leading a  Star Trek  series as its ship's captain. While there's sadly still resistance to the idea, we're getting used to female-led action films and series , including  Star Wars  epics and superhero blockbusters. But in the mid-90's, for a woman to not only be the lead in a science fiction adventure series but playing a character regularly giving men orders, it was a big deal. Mulgrew left an important mark on our culture, and it's felt far beyond the world of television.

Speaking to  TrekMovie  in 2019 about the 25th anniversary of  Voyager , Mulgrew was asked about highly visible female politicians like Stacey Abrams and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who'd named Captain Janeway as an early influence. Mulgrew said she made a surprise appearance at one of Ocasio-Cortez's rallies, and that when they announced Mulgrew, "[Ocasio-Cortez] gasped, she turned. And when I approached her, I think she kind of fell." Mulgrew said Ocasio-Cortez related stories of watching  Voyager  as a child and that "when they lost their screen — they had bad reception in their house, and often the television was just black and white — she'd listen to it, like a radio show. "

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10 Star Trek: Voyager Alien Villains Ranked, Worst To Best

6 multiverse timelines star trek can't erase, "i finally found you": star trek's beverly & wesley crusher reunion is a tragic twist for wil wheaton's character.

Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) certainly never intended to make any enemies in Star Trek: Voyager , but being the captain of a Federation starship in the uncharted Delta Quadrant inevitably creates new foes for Captain Janeway. Brand-new Delta Quadrant aliens in Star Trek were created as antagonists and enemies for Captain Janeway and the crew of the USS Voyager , from the Kazon and Vidiians in earlier seasons of Star Trek: Voyager to Species 8472 and the Hirogen in Voyager 's second half. Despite Janeway's attempted alliance with them, the Borg are also an ongoing threat from Star Trek: Voyager season 4 until the series' end.

It's not just Star Trek 's new Delta Quadrant alien species in general that became Captain Janeway's enemies. Individual people in the Delta Quadrant also clashed with Janeway during the long journey back to the Alpha Quadrant, as Voyager entered their space or Captain Janeway's crew committed unknown offenses against them. These specific enemies have a much more personal bone to pick with Captain Kathryn Janeway ; they've got vendettas against Janeway up their sleeves, interstellar empires to rule, and forceful differences of opinion that Janeway just can't let slide.

New alien villains fought against Captain Kathryn Janeway and the USS Voyager in the Delta Quadrant, but some foes were more successful than others.

7 Older Kes (Jennifer Lien)

Star trek: voyager season 6, episode 23 - "fury".

After Jennifer Lien left Star Trek: Voyager , Kes returns one more time in Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 23, "Fury". This Kes is hardened and angry, returning to the USS Voyager near the end of her life to exact vengeance on Captain Kathryn Janeway with the titular telekinetic fury ... and a phaser.

"Find another way home. Captain Janeway will help you if you give her a chance. Try to remember who you were. Try to remember me. " - Kes, Star Trek: Voyager season 6, episode 23, "Fury"

Kes blames her suffering on the misremembered claims that Janeway forced Kes' departure from Voyager several years earlier. Strategic time travel allows Janeway to connect Kes with her younger self before sending the elder Ocampa on her way, erasing the whole ordeal.

6 Arturis (Ray Wise)

Star trek: voyager season 4, episode 26 - "hope and fear".

In Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episode 26, "Hope and Fear", an unexpected consequence of Janeway's alliance with the Borg in Star Trek: Voyager season 4 arises with the arrival of Arturis (Ray Wise), who claims that Janeway's aid in defeating Species 8472 freed up Borg resources to assimilate more Delta Quadrant species. After thousands of years keeping the Borg at bay, Arturis' people were assimilated. Arturis' revenge plot appeals to Janeway's desire to bring her crew home, in the form of the USS Dauntless, a fake Federation starship with a quantum slipstream drive that will deliver Janeway directly to the Borg for her own assimilation.

Admiral Janeway's USS Dauntless in Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 is named after the fake Starfleet ship from "Hope and Fear".

5 Kashyk (Mark Harelik)

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 10 - "counterpoint".

Kashyk (Mark Harelik), an inspector for the telepath-hating Devore, becomes Captain Janeway's enemy through deception and betrayal, which is almost worse than actual military strikes against Voyager. In Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episode 10, "Counterpoint", Janeway secretly harbors telepathic Brenari refugees while Voyager is in Devore space.

Inspector Kashyk convinces Janeway that he's seen the error of his ways, and wants to change. Over repeated meetings, Janeway easily falls for the cultured and curious Kashyk, but becoming Captain Janeway's love interest turns out to be an act to earn Kathryn's trust and get to the Brenari hidden in Voyager's transporter buffer.

4 The Clown (Michael McKean)

Star trek: voyager season 2, episode 23 - "the thaw".

In Star Trek: Voyager season 2, episode 23, "The Thaw", the Clown is an antagonist for more than just Captain Janeway, but it's Janeway who ultimately emerges victorious in a battle of wits against the Clown. The Clown is the manifestation of fear that exists within a neural network , created from the minds of the 5 people hooked to the network. In order to generate a constant supply of fear and ensure his survival, the Clown makes the network hellish for his victims, and refuses to let them leave. Anyone engaging with the Clown is trapped in the network with him, so how can anyone defeat him?

Captain Janeway sets herself up as the ultimate prize for the Clown, demanding the release of the Clown's hostages -- which includes Ensign Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) -- in exchange for Janeway herself. The catch is that this is a holographic version of Captain Janeway instead of the real thing, and the Clown can't feed off of an inorganic mind . "Drat," indeed.

The Clown reappears in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 4, episode 1, "Twovix", as one of 3 famous holographic characters from Star Trek: Voyager who get activated by the USS Cerritos crew.

3 Captain Rudolph Ransom (John Savage)

Star trek: voyager season 5, episode 26 & season 6, episode 1 - "equinox".

Captain Rudolph Ransom of the USS Equinox is a victim of the same fate that originally befell Janeway and the USS Voyager, as a Federation starship that was brought to the other side of the galaxy by the Caretaker. The difference is that while Janeway held tight to Starfleet ideals, Ransom abandoned respect for sentient life and murdered innocent non-corporeal life forms to create fuel for a faster journey to the Alpha Quadrant. Ransom tries to justify his actions by saying the Federation is out of reach, so the Equinox crew did what they must to survive, but Janeway nonetheless holds Ransom accountable.

Captain Janeway has privileges that Captain Ransom didn't.

In response, Ransom points out that Captain Janeway has privileges that Captain Ransom didn't. The USS Voyager is a more advanced starship than the Equinox, and Voyager gained crew members from Commander Chakotay's Maquis raider to replace lives lost on the initial journey. The Equinox's experience as an Alpha Quadrant vessel in the Delta Quadrant wasn't so lucky. Both Janeway and Ransom are committed to the survival and safety of their crews, and Ransom challenges Janeway to consider whether she would have also abandoned Starfleet ideals if the circumstances were swapped.

2 Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith)

Star trek: voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9 - "year of hell".

While Captain Janeway hates time travel , and does her best to avoid time anomalies, Annorax of the Krenim Imperium (Kurtwood Smith) embraces the ability to use time as a weapon. With Krenim time weapons that erase people, ships, and entire planets from existence, Annorax continues to alter the timeline to increase the size and influence of the Imperium. When the USS Voyager becomes the proverbial fly in the ointment that seems to prevent Annorax from reviving his accidentally erased family, Annorax sets his sights on erasing Janeway and her crew.

Throughout Star Trek: Voyager season 4, episodes 8 & 9, "Year of Hell", Voyager suffers heavy losses as a result of Annorax's targeted attacks. Even with the losses, and the Krenim's advanced technology handily outpacing Voyager's, Janeway's tenacity still matches Annorax's. Only when it seems like there's nothing left to lose does Janeway make the sacrifice play that saves the Voyager crew and the timeline.

Some Star Trek timelines have to continue to exist in the multiverse, even if it seems like they've been overwritten.

1 The Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige)

Star trek: voyager seasons 5–7.

Captain Janeway's most formidable individual enemy in Star Trek: Voyager is undoubtedly the Borg Queen (Susanna Thompson, Alice Krige) . From the time the USS Voyager enters Borg space in Star Trek: Voyager season 3's cliffhanger, "Scorpion, Part 1", the Borg Queen is unseen, but watching Janeway through the eyes of Borg drones. Captain Janeway's liberation of Seven of Nine may have been the biggest insult against the Borg Queen , who tried to lure Seven back to the collective in Star Trek: Voyager season 5, episodes 15 & 16 "Dark Frontier".

Despite appearing in only four episodes of Star Trek: Voyager , the Borg Queen has a lasting impact on Captain Janeway's life . Star Trek: Voyager 's finale, "Endgame", shows that in Janeway's original timeline, the USS Voyager takes 23 years to reach the Alpha Quadrant. After years of research and development on anti-Borg weaponry, Admiral Janeway goes back in time to destroy the Borg Queen. Janeway's neurolytic pathogen successfully infects the Borg, leaving the Borg Queen little more than a shell of her former self. Of all Janeway's enemies in Star Trek: Voyager , only the Borg Queen can inspire that kind of animosity in Janeway herself.

Star Trek: Voyager

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Feb 5, 1996

Tuvok mind-melds with a murderous Maquis crewman to better understand the roots of serial killing, losing control of himself in the process. Tuvok mind-melds with a murderous Maquis crewman to better understand the roots of serial killing, losing control of himself in the process. Tuvok mind-melds with a murderous Maquis crewman to better understand the roots of serial killing, losing control of himself in the process.

• Gene Roddenberry
• Rick Berman
• Michael Piller
• Kate Mulgrew
• Robert Beltran
• Roxann Dawson
• 17 User reviews
• 5 Critic reviews

Top cast 27

• Capt. Kathryn Janeway

• Cmdr. Chakotay

• Lt. B'Elanna Torres
• (as Roxann Biggs-Dawson)

• Lt. Tom Paris

• Ensign Harry Kim

• Crewman Lon Suder

• Ensign Hogan

• Voyager Computer
• Holographic Bar Patron
• (uncredited)
• Science Division Officer
• Security Guard

• Lt. Russell

• Michael Piller (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia This episode marks the first appearance of Voyager's brig.
• Goofs Suder is usually referred to as Crewman Lon Suder, except for when Captain Janeway is making an entry in her log, calling him Ensign Lon Suder.

Ricky : Never play with anyone, even your best friend, if he offers you "an honest game of chance," Harry.

• Connections Referenced in Inglorious Treksperts: Voyager 25th Anniversary Party w/ Bryan Fuller (2020)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: Voyager - Main Title Written by Jerry Goldsmith Performed by Jay Chattaway

User reviews 17

• brianjohnson-20043
• Feb 20, 2021
• February 5, 1996 (United States)
• United States
• Official Site
• Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA (Studio)
• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 46 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Remembering ‘Star Trek: Voyager,’ 20 Years After the Series Ended

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Star Trek: Voyager ended 20 years ago, which made it the franchise’s third consecutive series to run for seven seasons, following The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine . When the show came to a close, it marked the beginning of the end for a special era in Gene Roddenberry’s universe, which had flourished with the one-hour sci-fi dramas led by Captain Picard ( Patrick Stewart ) and Captain Sisko ( Avery Brooks) . Upon its debut in 1995 , Voyager ’s mission was to continue this success by introducing Captain Kathyrn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ), Star Trek ’s first series with a female lead actor.  

When ET chatted with the cast of Voyager on set in 2001 amid filming the series finale, ‘Endgame,’ the ensemble revealed they were experiencing many of the same feelings behind the scenes as their counterparts on board the show’s Intrepid class starship. “We've had a couple days that were a little bittersweet,” Jeri Ryan , who stepped into the role of Seven of Nine at the start of Voyager ’s fourth season, told ET. “I've been with these people for four years and they've been together for seven. And you really do become like a family, because you see them more than your family.”

After having been stranded thousands of lightyears away from the Alpha quadrant, the ship’s crew of Starfleet officers and Maquis rebels had successfully banded together while they endured a bombardment of deadly obstacles throughout the journey home. And now, the time had come for actors and characters alike to bid farewell.

CHAOS ON THE BRIDGE

For seven years, the Voyager cast enjoyed a prime spot within an iconic pop culture franchise, one that also boasted an unprecedented fan movement that stretched across the globe. As they taped the show’s final moments, there was plenty of uncertainty at what the next chapter of their lives would look like in and outside of the Star Trek phenomenon. Ryan described the mood on set as “uncontrolled chaos.” For Voyager ’s lead star, it was a fascinating experience to witness first-hand. 

“It's intriguing to me to watch this process,” Mulgrew told ET on set. She believed the entire cast was exhibiting the first of many emotional stages in a collective grieving process that would unfold over the coming weeks. “The first will be levity. Almost revelry.” “Acting out” and “lunacy” were some of her other predictions. “Because we do everything to avoid the sadness. We do everything in nature to argue against that.”

“It's like we've been out of show business [for seven years,]” Robert Duncan McNeill, who played cocky pilot Tom Paris, told ET. In the heyday of network television’s enormous episode orders (by today’s standards), he noted that Voyager ’s intense shooting schedule had left them without a standard hiatus break year after year. Filming between 24 to 26 full-hours of TV across each of its seven seasons meant they had practically been living on the Paramount Studios lot, with the occasional short drive to Griffith Park for location shoots . “And now we're coming back to the real world.”

“I'm not gonna miss this uniform,” Robert Beltran, who played Maquis rebel leader Chakotay, told ET. He followed this up by lifting his arms and demonstrating the costume’s limited range of motion. McNeill echoed Beltran’s comments. He said while the clothes are “plain and nondescript” and look “harmless,” audiences might not realize they’re also fitted to the actor, preventing even the most basic of bodily positions. “Crossing your legs is not that easy in these suits.”

“I won't miss the corset,” Ryan said with a laugh, referencing Seven’s trademark skintight clothes. When she reprised the role for Star Trek: Picard , the character’s look received a rugged style fashion upgrade. When speaking with ET in the lead up to Picard’s debut, Ryan referred to Seven’s former wardrobe as “the cat suit,” a nod to Michelle Pfeiffer ’s costume in Batman Returns. 

Yet, amid these admissions of what they won’t miss about the job, a sense of melancholy couldn’t be avoided. It was not business as usual on set.

“The fact that they're knocking the sets down as we're finishing with them is giving us the idea that this is the last episode,” Robert Picardo told ET. (Yes, there were three ‘Robert's in this cast.) Before playing The Doctor, the ship’s medical hologram, Picardo was also a doctor across all three seasons of China Beach . The veteran actor gestured to a section of the set that had already been removed. He admitted, “It's kinda sad to see it all falling away around you.” 

THE VOYAGE HOME

“Oh, the almighty Temporal Prime Directive. Take my advice: it's less of a headache if you just ignore it.” - Admiral Kathryn Janeway. Star Trek: Voyager, ‘Endgame.’

Voyager began with a promise. Despite all the odds stacked against them, Captain Janeway would, eventually, bring everyone home. With this objective hanging over every storyline and each season-long story arc, any creative direction for the show’s end ran the risk of coming off as anticlimactic. But Mulgrew was confident in how they would be saying goodbye.

“I feel pretty good about [the series finale.] I just finished reading part two,” said Mulgrew. “I think they did a wonderful job tying it up. Very unexpected. Very unpredictable.” The contents of Voyager ’s two-hour send off received additional security measures on set, which were already considerable throughout the show’s run. 

“I don't know how it's gonna end,” said Ryan. “They're sending home scripts under armed guard practically.” Among the many benefits of being captain, apparently, was having access to the entire top secret script. As they were already in the midst of filming part one of the two-hour episode when chatting with ET, the cast still had a pretty good idea how the journey would end, even if they didn’t have the whole map just yet. Picardo joked, “I'm looking around under coats and hats around set trying to find someone with the second half.”

According to Ryan, these precautions extended to everyone behind the camera. She said, “[The crew] had no idea what was going on in the scenes that we were shooting [this morning.] They were shocked.”

“I think the audience will tune in thinking, ‘I've got this pretty well figured out.’ It'll be a game for most of them. They've calculated the odds against this. ‘What's going to happen to so and so?’ And I think they will find themselves unsettled by what, in fact, the writers have come up with,” said Mulgrew. “Which is profoundly clever and very moving.”

The first half of "Endgame" tracked two versions of the Voyager crew, one in the show's current time and the other 26 years in the future. In the latter, we learn our main characters have long since returned from their journey. But not everyone came back alive or without residual scars. Seven was killed in battle. Chakotay later died, which was hinted at being as a result of grief from her death. And Tuvok's ( Tim Russ ) illness, which required treatment starting years before Voyager eventually returned, had taken a heavy toll. Janeway, now a Starfleet admiral, decided to ignore Temporal Prime Directive guidelines and travel back in time to help her crew fast track their return to the Alpha quadrant. 

To accomplish this, Admiral Janeway traveled back in time to find Voyager and teamed up with her past self. But the Janeways are faced with two (seemingly) mutually exclusive objectives: sneaking Voyager into a transwarp corridor that would drop them on Earth’s doorstep, or destroying the central hub of the Borg empire. In a display of her trademark determination, Captain Janeway posits: “There's got to be a way to have our cake and eat it, too.” Voyager ’s producers seemed to be after the same goal with ‘Endgame.’ While our central timeline ends and fades to black just as Voyager reaches Earth, and the show’s ultimate promise fulfilled, fans were still provided a glimpse of seeing what the characters’ future might  resemble. Following The Next Generation ’s finale, which similarly showed trajectories for their core characters decades into the future, it was a tried and true storytelling approach in the franchise. Voyager ’s finale got to live in the moment and offer potential hints at what the future could bring for these characters. 

“The end of the show is very much what I, personally, wanted the show to be at the end,” said McNeill. He praised the finale’s absence of “reunion” and full circle moments with their characters back on Earth. “It's really about our cast and our crew. And their relationships. And what they've brought back from the seven years journey. The connections that they have. The lessons that they learned that they'll never forget.”

Having read ahead of the class, Mulgrew told ET that the script had left her dreading shooting the final scene. “That will be a diabolical day for me. If I get through that, then I'm stronger than I think I am.”

THE NEXT GENERATIONS

“I think it'll truly hit me on the day that the new show premieres,” Garrett Wang told ET on set of the finale, who played Ensign Harry Kim, in reference to Star Trek: Enterprise ’s impending debut that fall. “Because then we are no longer the new kids on the block.” In a sense, the end of Voyager wrapped up a section of the Star Trek timeline that had become beloved by new generations of fans. Enterprise would take Trek back to the 22nd century, leaving few ties to the characters and events from this era. 

At Voyager ’s finale party in April 2001, Mulgrew reflected on the impact Janeway had following her introduction six years and 70,000 lightyears ago. “I think it was bold,” Mulgrew told ET. “And I think that they made a timely and rather political move. A gesture that certainly I will never forget and I think [will culturally] serve as a great motivator for women.”

While the legacy of Captain Janeway has endured for two decades now, her journey continues. Mulgrew reprised the role for Star Trek: Prodigy , debuting on Paramount+ later this year. Taking place after the events of Voyager , the animated series follows a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship, with Janeway appearing as the starship's built-in emergency training hologram. 

"Captain Janeway was held to a different standard than her predecessors. She was asked to embody an inhuman level of perfection in order to be accepted as ‘good enough’ by the doubters, but showed them all what it means to be truly outstanding. We can think of no better captain to inspire the next generation of dreamers on Nickelodeon, than she," Star Trek executive producer Alex Kurtzman said when the series was announced in October.

“I have invested every scintilla of my being in Captain Janeway, and I can’t wait to endow her with nuance that I never did before in Star Trek: Prodigy ," Mulgrew said in a statement. "How thrilling to be able to introduce to these young minds an idea that has elevated the world for decades. To be at the helm again is going to be deeply gratifying in a new way for me.” 

All 7 seasons of Star Trek: Voyager , as well as the first season of  Star Trek: Picard , are streaming on Paramount+. 

ET and Paramount+ are both subsidiaries of ViacomCBS.

Watch ET's first visit to the set of Star Trek: Voyager below. 

• Kate Mulgrew

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Interview: Kate Mulgrew On The Legacy Of ‘Voyager,’ ‘Star Trek: Picard,’ AOC, And More

| May 24, 2019 | By: Laurie Ulster 163 comments so far

O Captain! My Captain! (Part Two)

After Kate Mulgrew and I talked about her new book, How to Forget: A Daughter’s Memoir,  we moved on to more Star Trek-related topics. With the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: Voyager coming next year plus Star Trek: Picard on the horizon, it seemed like the perfect time to talk about Janeway’s legacy.

You’ve written two very honest memoirs now. Would you ever consider doing what Shatner’s done, and write a book about your experiences on Voyager ?

If I did, it wouldn’t be as Shatner’s done, I don’t think. I haven’t read his book. And I like Bill and I’m sure that it’s very enjoyable.

If I write about what happened to me on Star Trek: Voyager , I’m going to write the truth, and it’s probably going to come from an unexpected place. So, I would write about what it’s like to take that kind of an arduous journey in a period of great change in one’s life. My sons were young, I was newly divorced. By the time Voyager had finished, my mother had Alzheimer’s. Everything happened in those seven years, and I was not given a great deal of time to assimilate everything because my usual day was a 16-hour day.

I don’t know that the fan base would want to know everything that I would want to share, which is the deeply private feelings of an actress under the gun. The first rule of being a captain is to set the tone on the set, so I didn’t reveal any of what I was ever really feeling. Or if I did, it was only in the very wee hours of the morning, when I was so exhausted I couldn’t do otherwise.

So if I write it, it won’t be, “And this is what happened, and then I met Jeri Ryan, and we were upset,” blah, blah, blah. It’s not going to be any of that … that doesn’t interest me, at all. It would be the examination of who Kate was at that time.

The Voyager cast celebrating their 100th episode (“Timeless”) in 1998

Patrick Stewart’s doing a new show, playing Picard 20 years after the events of the movie, Nemesis , which you were also in. And what interested him about it was that it was this exploration of what he’s done and who he is 20 years after all of this. So, if someone pitched to you, “The character of Janeway 20 years later,” what about that character would you want to explore and where do you think she would be?

I did it on Voyager . I played at the admiral, I did it. I think I did it.

I don’t know. It surprised me when Patrick came out on the stage—I was there that day—and announced it. It surprised me that he wanted to. But I think he knows it will probably have a shot at being quite a hit. And there’s no one who likes to work as much as Patrick Stewart. And for him it will probably be very successful. Picard was beloved. Yeah, it’ll be interesting. I don’t know what to say about Janeway. Seven years is a long time to play a character. I’m not sure that she would enjoy resuscitation. She was a very, very vibrant person, while she was.

So that doesn’t sound like something you would enjoy, particularly?

I would have to cross that bridge when I got there. It’s nothing that I have entertained.

Vice Admiral Janeway, years after Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant

They just released a documentary on Deep Space Nine , done by Ira Steven Behr. A big theme of that documentary was that they felt like they were the middle child, less important than the other Star Trek shows—and that time has validated them. Did you, and did your group on Voyager , feel any of that?

No. I don’t think that ever occurred to me. I was aware of Next Generation being wonderfully received, and Patrick Stewart’s great popularity and success as a captain, but I was absolutely immersed in the business of making Star Trek: Voyager my imprint, and of value in and of itself.

Being the first female captain was seismic, there were tidal waves of publicity and reaction and response because a girl had been put in command. And I had to wrestle with that for at least a season, maybe a season and a half.

I was determined to make Janeway the best captain I could make her, and not for any real feminist reasons—because I wanted as an actress and as a human being to put my stamp on that beautifully written woman. And I thought around me was a very, very good group. I’ve remained very close friends with Bob Picardo, Ethan Phillips. I mean, these guys were pretty terrific, so, no. And I’m aware of the competitive nature of it all. I’m a deeply competitive person myself, or have been in my life as an actress. It always pisses me off when people say that Voyager was less than Next Generation , and Janeway was less than Picard, or less than Kirk. And it’s all so silly, isn’t it?

Five non-competitive captains together :  William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Scott Bakula

It is silly. I grew up a fan, since I was 10, and it was in the ’70s, so there was no Voyager coming for a long time. And I loved every single Trek, every captain. But when Janeway came along … for me, just starting leadership positions in my own life, it was huge.

Well, not only because you’re a woman, but because you’re smart enough to realize that if television is willing to sink millions of dollars into the representation of a woman in command, in one of the most successful franchises in the history of television, then it’s to be taken seriously. It’s a harbinger of things to come culturally, societally, and politically. And that’s exactly what happened.

There’s a lot of talk about Janeway’s impact on STEM and women of science, but right now, there are women in politics who are talking about you. Stacey Abrams , and particularly Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Well, I’m a great fan of hers, and she of me. So I went out to her at one of her rallies in Queens, and I surprised her. Whoever was introducing her said, “And now, a person who Alexandria has known since she was a little girl, Captain Kathryn Janeway, Kate Mulgrew.” And she gasped, she turned.

And when I approached her, I think she kind of fell. It was one of those moments. And then when she said that when they lost their screen—they had bad reception in their house, and often the television was just black and white—she’d listen to it, like a radio show. And that was enough. I mean, the whole thing is marvelous.

And look what she’s doing. I doubt that I had anything to do with that spirit, which is a remarkable one. But there is something about her confidence, the way she is scorching that indifferent earth that makes me think, “I wonder… I wonder if she plucked some of this from Voyager ?” And I hope she did.

She was six when Voyager premiered, so now she has a wealth–not as many as there should be—but a wealth of pop culture with women in strong roles. So why do you think it was still, for her, Janeway?

You know why. Lost in space, alone. Got to get ’em home. Got to get ’em home. It’s the epic journey of the single female. And look what she’s doing in the House. It’s unprecedented, we have not seen this before in a woman of her youth. She’s untried, and she is stomping at the ground. I am electrified by this performance. May she maintain it.

And she’s giving energy to a lot of the others, the Katie Porters, and the Abby Finkenauers of Iowa, she’s giving energy, she’s giving courage, she’s inspiring all of them. I think she’s probably even getting under Pelosi’s skin, do you know?

Time to show everybody what we’ve got. And it’s so extravagant, isn’t it? I mean, I love men. I love them, and I wouldn’t want to live without them, but we have more than they have.

Once we open that door and we admit that, and we let that stuff go, watch out!

Kate Mulgrew and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, both wearing com badges

Are you watching any TV these days? Binging anything?

Because I’m down here in Charleston shooting a new series, no, I’m not. I’m immersed in Mr. Mercedes .

If you could guest star on any show that’s current, is there one that you would love to be on?

Yes, I’d love to be on The Crown now, with Olivia Colman. They’re shooting it right now, I’d love to have a part on that. But I’m American as apple pie, so probably not going to happen. And I’d love to do something on Ozark , but guesting on Mr. Mercedes would’ve been among my first choices, and here I am doing it. I’m playing a psychopath, an absolute psychopath. The complete opposite of Kathryn Janeway. And it’s fun.

I’ve had some great shots. I had Mary Ryan, I had Mrs. Columbo, I had Kathryn Janeway, Red, and now Alma Lane. It’s been a great ride.

Kate Mulgrew as Mary Ryan on Ryan’s Hope , Mrs. Columbo, Captain Janeway, and Red on Orange Is the New Black

Kate Mulgrew on her new memoir

Read part one of our interview with Kate Mulgrew about her new book, How To Forget: A Daughter’s Memoir.

Buy the book

Buy your copy at Amazon , in hardcover, e-book, or audiobook (narrated by Kate Mulgrew).

Audiobook excerpt

With a message to listeners from Kate Mulgrew.

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Interview: Kate Mulgrew On Chakotay And The ‘Prodigy’ Janeways; Her Conditions For More Live-Action Star Trek

So Kate Mulgrew is an absolute idiot. Not surprised.

Likely Blah is not a fan of AOC

Don’t feed the trolls, people…

I appreciate that while shooting Voyager was a difficult time for her due to the schedule, she is still respectful when talking about the show. I think it’s very unlikely we will see her as Janeway again bar a small cameo. Much as I love Janeway, I’m ok with this considering the circumstances.

Being the star of any show is difficult under the best of circumstances. She stepped in after the first choice bowed out. Voyager isn’t my fav Trek but it had its great moments, like the other shows before and after. Ms. Mulgrew always did a great job in her performance.

Agreed. My least favorite of the shows after Enterprise , but it did have its moments, and Mulgrew always gave it her best.

Yes she did. And some people act like Burnham is so groundbreaking. No. Ms. Mulgrew/Janeway was groundbreaking over two decades before, and her character was leagues better, imo.

I don’t agree at all about the character being better, but to each his own.

Mulgrew lost me in the first couple paragraphs of this interview when she panned Shatner’s (ghost written book) that she did not even read!

What is it they say about actors and prostitutes again?

IMO, after how treasonius Obama became president – with 7 O’s help, and now Mulgrew is helping Ocational Cortex, Trek could single handedly be responsible for the destruction of our Constitution!

Hope you Dems all wake up in the coming weeks.

DON’T LITTER! (– click the link for real entertainment.

LOL, WOW! Tell us how you really feel.

Aside from my comments above, To be fare. I did REALLY ENJOY Ms. Mulgrew’s acting and the character she portrayed on Voyager and her support of woman and Trek.

Oh! Let’s get political! Not a smart move.

you mean mr.trek made me wonder. when pres. Donald trump got up on stage in front of the Russia dictator and called our cia a liar who risk their life everyday to protect this country.who really committed treason?

martin mcqueen

You are oblivious to the threat to our constitution from the CIA deep state and its infiltration in our media. You may be a victim of propaganda, Martin. A threat to our country by too few controlling the narrative in our news. I see that threat, I believe Trump sees that threat, and hopefully that threat will be contained.

It amazes me that you think the Russians tampered with our elections. How did they do that? Facebook ads? Or, was it by hacking Hellary’s and Podesta’s and the DNC’s emails? The Russian hacking is STILL an UNPROVEN allegation. More likely it was SETH RICH who transferred and exposed most of those emails and data to Wikileaks. It is proven that Hellary and Podesta sloppily used personal email servers and poor internet security, and their criminal avoidance in abiding with laws that demand the use of government secure servers for email communications exposed their crimes further.

Even so, the Dems never deny what information was revealed with the exposing of their [unsecured] emails. You should take a look at WIKILEAKS and what they revealed and get back to me. Some of the info is pretty damning, and DOES indicate some serious crimes on the part of those top Dems.

But, if you think the Russians were a major influence for people not voting for the highly UNLIKABLE Hellary, then you DID NOT watch those Trump/Hellary debates. As I recall Trump pointed out quite clearly that Bill was a RAPIST and Trump even had four of Bill’s RAPE victims present. Victims that Hellary AND THE CONTROLLED MEDIA, time and again, tried to ignore and delegitimize. I expect you to do the same here soon. More likely you will avoid that issue completely.

Those women who were victims of a Bill’s sick sexual attacks stood for Trump before a national audience – and in my opinion are HEROES.

In the spirit of the ME TOO movement, You and many other “liberals” should count your blessings and celebrate how Trump and the patriots who stand with him, saved – and are still saving – our country from the likes of those liberal criminals – the Clintons and the horrible DNC.

I expect you won’t. But if you read and research you just may come around to the fact that a VERY GOOD decision was reached in 2016.

I know people say not to engage the trolls… but nevertheless…

I’m amazed that you seem to think Trump wholeheartedly supports rape survivors when he lambasted the women who made their own claims about Trump.

Or your focus on personal email servers only about Dems, when Trump has also done it. Trump is the only president in our modern electronic era who has refused the White House’s phone security. He insisted on keeping his Android phone to tweet from, no locked down BlackBerry for him.

He’s demonstrably a hypocrite who just says stuff when it’s convenient for him. And I do believe Bill Clinton’s accusers too. I think Hillary was a bad choice of candidate. Her section of Dems does in fact play to corporate interests… but then so does Trump, completely ignoring what he previously claimed about them.

I am amused by your handwaving of the power of targeted advertising as a conspiracy theory, though. As if ads don’t change how people behave. I have no personal stake in theories about manipulation of the 2016 USA election; but as someone in the UK I know for sure that the Brexit polls were similarly manipulated. Advertiser profiling is VERY powerful indeed.

I don’t expect you to reply though. It’s obvious that you’ve got a lot of explanations/justifications for everything fishy about Trump, and a bunch of cherrypicked details about people who dislike him that immediately prove no good faith on their part.

If one hasn’t seen Voyager then it makes sense they would consider Burnham groundbreaking. I do enjoy Discovery over Voyager.

Janeway paved the way for characters like Burnham. I remember ALL the talk at the time where Star Trek fans out of all people were upset they had the nerve to give the captain chair to a woman. Mulgrew had a lot to prove to people and thankfully she did because even if people didn’t like the show that much Janeway herself became a huge fan favorite, especially for young girls at the time.

I’m happy we do have a new woman lead for a Star Trek show again with Discovery. And as a person of color myself who actually has family from the same city Martin Green is from, my cousin even graduated from the same university she did, University of Alabama, its nice to see another black lead in a franchise I worship. I’m proud of that in fact.

But both Mulgrew and Brooks set those standards literally decades ago now. And its probably why I don’t have the disdain and hate of Rick Berman like many seem to do because he was the one who pushed those characters forward and risking a LOT on these huge multi-million dollar franchise shows. He could’ve went safe and got another middle age white guy and everyone would’ve just shrugged but he believed in Roddenberry’s edict and that Star Trek can’t just be about diversity in the stories, but also the production itself.

And Mulgrew set a standard that 25 years later is one that is still important today.

Love everything you said, Tiger. I do wonder however about Berman “pushing those characters forward,” because like of course they came about under his watch, but I just feel like Trek in the 90s necessitated those kinds of chances to be taken. What were they gonna do, just keep putting white guys in the chair? They had to mix it up in round 3 and 4, so I wouldn’t say it was all Berman; I think the conditions were right for it to happen anyway, and Berman happened to be at the helm at the time.

Well with Sisko, I think it kind of was an ‘about time’ attitude. He didn’t get any real push back from what I recall and watching the DS9 documentary last week confirmed it. But it was Piller and Berman who made the conscious choice to do it, but no one at the studio had any problems with it either.

BUT with Janeway, there was actually concern about it in Paramount. This has been cited many times in the past, but Paramount wanted a male captain and even forced them to audition men for the role. They did it but stuck to their guns they wanted a woman and the studio basically gave in.

And I think the difference was DS9 was still syndicated so it just had a lot more leeway in everything from casting to the stories it told. Voyager was the big flag ship show on a new network so they were just a lot more cautious about everything with it.

I think it was kind of like NBC was when Star Trek originally launched, they were personally onboard with the diverse characters, but its still about money at the end of the day and both couldn’t risk alienating both audiences and advertisers, which Voyager depended on way more than TNG and DS9 did.

I don’t think it was THAT serious with Janeway, but it was certainly a concern at least. They just went away once the audience showed up and accepted her.

>>>>> with Sisko, I think it kind of was an ‘about time’ attitude. He didn’t get any real push back from what I recall and watching the DS9 documentary last week confirmed it. But it was Piller and Berman who made the conscious choice to do it, but no one at the studio had any problems with it either. BUT with Janeway, there was actually concern about it in Paramount. This has been cited many times in the past, but Paramount wanted a male captain and even forced them to audition men for the role. <<<<

Sisko WASN'T created specifically as a black character because there was an 'about time' attitude. The casting call said Sisko could be of any race and white men did audition for the role of Sisko. In fact, Peter Capaldi, who later went on to play Doctor Who, was one of them.

Sisko was a Captain who happened to be black, rather than a role specifically created to be a "black Captain". Avery Brooks has confirmed this. Ditto with Janeway, she was a Captain who happened to be a woman (and yes men did audition for the role), rather than specifically a "woman captain".

Stamets, on the other hand…

Janeway was a character that was relatable. Burnham is a walking, talking deus ex machina. Discovery is a trainwreck intersecting a dumpster fire. Burnham is part of the reason it is so. She is completely unrelatable and unlikeable as a character.

Discovery is a five-alarm fire in a dumpster factory.

So what you’re saying is that DSC is hot hot hot!

In your opinion. In my opinion she is a complex and compelling lead.

Don’t confuse contradictory behavior with complexity. You should only invoke Whitman’s ‘multitudes’ quote when there’s evidence of sophistication, and Burnham doesn’t reflect that so much as she does a missed opportunity of sophistication.

I guess there IS a connection between Burnham and Janeway — because that Captain came off much more intelligent and engaging in early interviews than Janeway did with her scripted dialogue, at least in the shows I was able to watch before giving up on it. Both represent missed opportunities, but at least in the case of VOYAGER the actress really had the skills to do much better with good material. I had thought that was true of this actress based on her TWD role, but after sitting through DSC s1, have since rescinded that opinion.

*applauds* ♥ ♥ ♥

I think the most controversial thing in Trek was putting a British sounding FRENCHMAN in the captain’s chair! The backlash that got was incredible! More so that anything Sisko or Janeway got. ;)

I’m not really sure what good it serves to compare two very, very different characters but I love both of them for very different reasons.

I also happen to love both actresses. Both so very intelligent and insightful.

Agreed. I don’t get the disdain for Burnham or Martin Green. I think she’s a potentially interesting character (played by a good actress).

I’m not sure I would have saddled Burnham with being the daughter of Sarek, had I been creating the character. Even having her been raised by other Vulcans — or not by Vulcans at all, could have been a lot more interesting.

I also don’t think she’s a deus ex machina or a Mary Sue any more than other characters have been — but I do think there has been some trouble with the writing and making her a fully-realized character.

She reminds me of Picard in a lot of ways, too. And I feel Picard is arguably the most boring character in all of Trek.

It’s still a big deal to have a woman of colour lead a Trek series (or to even be in a major role) in 2019. Recognizing that doesn’t downplay Mulgrew’s or Brooks’ or Nichols’ contributions.

And why does it have to be a contest? It’s all been groundbreaking.

Danpaine, Burnham IS groundbreaking. There’s absolutely no reason to minimize that…

The thing I’ve found is that Janeway’s leadership is all the more compelling rewatching it with our kids.

Our kids really love Voyager, and one has said that Janeway’s the TV character they most look up to.

Janeway is inspiring for them in her commitment to Starfleet values in adversity coupled with a stalwart determination to get her ship and crew home.

I’d suggest a rewatch to those who haven’t seen it since first run.

Well said TG47!

I didn’t agree with everything Janeway did but her determination to get her crew home was the best part about her. She inspired her crew to follow her through thick and thin that no other captain ever had to do. And for 7 seasons at that.

MAYBE we will see something like that with Discovery next season but I’m not exactly holding my breath, especially if the producers say is really true and going to the future is a one way trip for them.

The thing is, I’m pretty sure even Kate acknowledges that Janeway was written all over the place, and she had to play the character with the idea in mind that she’s suffering from like bipolar condition or something, because her values would whiplash so dramatically from week to week.

Yes the writing was definitely all over the place with her characters at times. I think Mulgrew has mentioned that in the past. Robert Beltran has definitely mentioned it lol.

But overall she stuck to her core and she loved her crew. But yes even for me, it would bother me when she make irrational decisions Chakotay and others knows are irrational (and I completely agree with) but then the story basically have her way win out nearly all the time. No one is pretending she was perfect, but with the situation she was put in, no one can be either.

That happened a great deal in Trek, however. It happened to Picard a LOT. He would make a bad decision in the teaser that lead to their problem of the week.

Have they seen Equinix yet?

If that’s the two-parter with Jon Savage, then yeah, that is pretty good. I’ve only tried watching maybe 20 VOYAGER eps after s4 started, and the Capt Ransom is the only one I made it through (twice in fact.)

It always amazes me that DS9’s CG in later seasons for the most part still looked like great modelwork, whereas VOY’s stuff all looked like a cartoon, like they were always in a system lit by multiple suns. But it was what went on inside the ship that really turned me off — this absolutely should have been a show about decay and how character stands against that … pretty much what we got in nuBSG for most of its run.

I’m forced to admit, after rewatching all of Voyager over the last couple of years (I don’t binge watch and I have just two episodes left) that my opinion of the show has improved.

Some forget about this when they gripe about Shatner. I’m glad that feud seems to have quieted down.

“If I did, it wouldn’t be as Shatner’s done, I don’t think. I haven’t read his book. And I like Bill and I’m sure that it’s very enjoyable.”

I don’t understand this statement. If she hasn’t read the book how does she know what voice it uses? For the record, Shatner did discuss his personal life at the time; he didn’t wallow in it but but did use it as a frame of reference and touched on how his professional life affected his personal life (and I’m referring to his first two Star Trek Memories books).

Of course I don’t really know what she meant but I could imagine that she based her opinion on her general impression of Shatner and how he tends to present himself in public.

Probably based on the general awareness that Shatner wrote about his time on Star Trek and had feuds with most of the cast as a result. That he went on places like SNL to tell fans to “get a life.”

That his memoirs about Trek generated controversy for dishing behind the scenes dirt.

What she’s saying is, my book wouldn’t be about the behind the scenes dirt.

Shatner’s SNL gig was not predicated on Smigel’s TREKfan skit which wasn’t even written until after Shatner agreed to do the show, and Shatner contributed absolutely nothing to it’s writing.

“Get a life!” was Robert Smigel addressing the fans in a manner he never abandoned, and still employs via his dog hand puppet.

And Shatner is no more responsible for the Smigel lines he voiced on SNL than that inanimate puppet is for Smigel’s sentiments expressed on the various Conan O’Brien talk venues on which it appears.

He took part in a sketch that quite specifically mocked Trek fans (which is fine with me) and you can’t deny that it riled up Trekkies who couldn’t take the joke, and became notorious. It is also, then and now, what his appearance on SNL is known for.

A misconception’s popularity doesn’t make it true. It merely leads to the absurdity of people claiming to quote Shatner when putting down fans for behaving, in their view, as if STAR TREK were real; when giving Shatner the credit reveals the accusers have no clearer view of what a performance is, and who is responsible for that dialogue, than the views they imagine are in the minds of those fans they find deserving of mocking.

It’s clear, Robert Smigel, the writer, was and is continuing to be in many of his comedic bits, most notoriously those performed via his Triumph puppet in convention lines, the one telling the fans to “Get a life!”, and most certainly should NOT be deprived of the credit.

My take is she was speaking about how he promoted his book and spoke about it in public.

It would be possible to read a synopsis and reviews to determine if this is something you’d actually buy and read. After catching Infinity War on Netflix, and knowing several of the (supposedly) dead characters would live on in their own movie sequels, it was easy to take a pass on Endgame knowing how another derivative Marvel superhero movie would turn out. I’ll catch that on Netflix, too.

As a retired Naval officer, I can assure you that Picard and Janeway were the only real captains in the series, and Janeway had the tougher role. She was lost in space, and, as Mulgrew notes, a single woman whose job was to keep Voyager alive and in space and get her crew back home.

For me, Voyager is the best of the Star Trek series.

I can assure you that Picard and Janeway were the only real captains in the series

Do elaborate. I’ve heard other military people say that Sisko’s portrayal (particularly in the early seasons) was the most realistic.

Yeah, that claim makes no sense. As if someone knows what it’s like to be a Starfleet captain! Respect your service and all, but apples and oranges. I know Nick Meyer liked to based his stories on his Naval experience, but just because you don’t see parallels between the captains you knew and Sisko, Archer, or whoever, does not mean they are the only “real captains.”

I’d like to hear more too.

Granted the Federation is intentionally a very different culture from current day, but it would be great to get your perspective on what it was about Picard and Janeway that resonate d most with your experience.

Picard usually struck me as being more king-minded that Captain-like, and I rarely bought him as a leader worthy of being followed, except maybe in the other timeline from YESTERDAY’S E.

Except for some actorish moments, Sisko absolutely seemed like the most believable military commander to me, because so often he did what Shatner called ‘wearing command like a comfortable old jacket’ — NOT making a big deal of his authority unless a challenge arose. I’d still rather serve with Kirk than any of the others — assuming I wasn’t wearing red, that is. (and weirdly enough, I’d serve with Jellicoe too, because my takeaway there is he usually brings his crews back intact.)

I thought Picard’s sense of morality was welcome and absolutely the right thing for the writers to do. I don’t think that made him a hugely believable character, especially compared to Sisko, but I actually don’t think that was the point.

I think the point of Picard’s character was to imagine what a true paragon of virtue in the liberal humanist tradition would look like and give us all someone to look up to and aspire to.

However I also think that if it had been a character like Picard, rather than Sisko, that had been saddled with some of the ethical dilemmas of DS9 (or even of Voyager or Enterprise – e.g. Archer’s Enterprise attacking an innocent ship to steal a warp coil for the greater goal of saving Earth from the Xindi) then one imagines the actual outcomes might have been rather worse.

Picard is a wobbler, more the diplomat then military strategist. I’d argue that Sisko belongs on that list as well.

I really liked Voyager but i never liked her,i wasn’t surprised to learn she was a total bitch to Jeri Ryan…

If I recall correctly, Ms. Mulgrew wasn’t a bitch to Jeri Ryan, she just objected to the introduction of a T&A character. If I recall correctly….

I think Mulgrew has more or less admitted that she did not welcome the character or the actress playing her with open arms. As the series lead, she should have done better.

Whoever came up with the idea for Seven’s costume should’ve done better. The character as written was great, but the way they made her look, come on. Ridiculous.

I can just see the 70 year old studio execs telling Berman, while gesticulating wildly, “we need sex appeal! Get a hot babe on the show, someone with real bazoombas! And a nice caboose! A real Barbarella type. Someone that’ll make the 12 year old boys drool! And put her in a tight outfit! Something that would make your wife blush!”

Yep, that sounds about right.

Yeah, unfortunately the catsuit seemed to become standard issue for female characters in Berman Trek. Least we forget that Troi started out in one as well, along with her race being comfortable with nudist lifestyles.

I think Troi started out in a hyper-short skirt. Then moved to that rather unflattering gray onesie. Before changing to an actual star fleet uniform like the rest. Wasn’t that thanks to Capt. Jelico? Probably the best thing he did.

Sure (though my inner 14 year-old thought the costume was awesome). But that was a decision made by the studio, not Jeri Ryan, who doubtless would have preferred to wear something else herself. Treating her with disrespect was uncalled for.

very very true!!

She cashed the check. Guess that makes her a genuine 90’s working girl

Pretty sure Jeri actually passed out on set once because her suit was too tight, so yeah I’m pretty sure she wasn’t thrilled with the catsuit either

Yes she admitted it and has apologized to Ryan and has made up for it. I don’t condone what Mulgrew did of course but I can understand how it would feel you are the star of the show and as the lead you set this very mature standard of a woman starship captain and then they bring in a hot model with a cat suit on.

Her anger was misdirected at the wrong person for sure, but when its Ryan she’s the one seeing and acting against 15 hours a day its harder to ignore.

Right, it’s easy to see why Mulgrew was frustrated by it. This was in an era following Dr. Dana Scully and Janeway herself. A catsuit probably seemed like a step backward (because it was).

Nothing against Seven by the way. She’s one of the more interesting characters from the series, but the look was silly. Put her in a normal uniform, like in the episode Relativity, and it’s not an issue.

The character they created for 7 seemed like their way of revolting against the mandate, by taking the demand for a “hot babe” and developing a deep, nuanced, and interesting character, instead of the vapid blonde, skin-revealing bombshell the execs probably wanted to “shake things up romantically”.

I’d bet the studio was also behind the Chakotay/7 pairing in the last season, which came out of nowhere, and made no sense.

It reminds me of the suits wanting Jerry and Elaine to get together in Seinfeld.

This sort of “shipping” as its known now, is not rare in television. After Cheers and Moonlighting, studios really pushed shows to couple up lead characters.

Good point Afterburn. There did seem to be a push to bring couples together starting in the late 80s: Remington Steele would be another example.

In many cases the relationship made less successful television than the romantic tension. And in my view, the female character often suffered for it.

While I did not find the Chakotay/Seven relationship as improbable as many seem to, it was developed too quickly. Or really just seemed to be the start of an experiment.

The fact that she was paired off with the highest ranking male, had a bit of the air of a woman seeking out the guy who was highest in male status hierarchy. Which is rather sexist itself.

Sorry for the necro, but it reminds me of the Troi/Worf romance that kept popping up in TNG S7.

It only occurs in alternate realities or holodeck dreams… before becoming actually real in the finale. Seven was dating Chakotay on the holodeck, and maybe his “character model” was accurate enough that she could tell the real one was interested too…

But it makes me feel that the writers thought one character playing out fantasies was a substitute for both characters getting to actually know each other in that way.

I guess, but what business it it of ours? What matters is what’s on the screen. People aren’t the characters they play.

Mulgrew freely admits now she was not pleasant to Ryan. She cites frustration at the show resorting to T & A to get better ratings but admits she aimed it very much dead-center at Ryan.

That in itself is insulting to Jeri Ryan. I don’t doubt it was a factor in her casting and how she was dressed etc (this is borne out by how the producers handled the dress sense of Troi, T’Pol and possibly even Kira), but there was far more to her acting and characterisation than that.

Conversely, would Mulgrew say that actors with attractive body shapes shouldn’t appear? It’s also not as if it isn’t a long-standing convention in US TV to cast actors who are better-looking than the general population, including Mulgrew herself. Especially back in the 90s and early 00s. So really it would be fairer to focus on that general point.

The thing that I find truly sad about the situation is that it created a toxic working environment for two women who were both playing strong female characters.

I’ve felt reluctant to speak about it, but it very much seems the case wherein two people from a marginalized group are set against each other by the guys in management who don’t even really get that there could be a problem.

It’s disappointing to know that Mulgrew took it out on Ryan, but she’s at least acknowledged her part.

That said, part of the issue was that the character of Janeway, and Mulgrew’s interpretation of it represents a kind of feminism of that seems unable to permit women to be at ease with their own sexuality…

The 90s was a time when the idea that women could be strong and sexy at the same time was breaking out. Seven was surely intended to attract male viewers, but I know vey many women who liked her and were inspired by her as a strong, smart woman who could be gorgeous too.

trouble was she was a child when she was assimilated and once released still getting over the trauma of that. so her character wearing her sexuality like that so blatantly was uncomfortable to watch.

I totally get that tony.

There’s something inherently smarmy about having a person who is basically innocent and unconscious of her sexuality dressed that way.

But at least they showed how Harry Kim and others had to learn to manage their reactions and assumptions to treat Seven for who she was. That is, the male characters were shown to be responsible for their reactions and behavior.

I’d like to point out that the character of Kes was also super problematic in a similar way.

Yes, she was from a species that matured rapidly. But, putting a teenage actress in tight clothes and using prosthetics and hairstyles to make her look young and somehow childlike while being in a romance with an obviously older character just came across as creepy.

Not sure why Mulgrew didn’t have the same issues with Jennifer Lien.

I’m with you on the inappropriateness of Kes’s sexuality and how it was portrayed, but I’m sure Mulgrew was more accepting of Lien because her character was baked into the premise of the show from the get-go, whereas Seven was added midway through to amp up the ratings and titillation, which is why she was much more reactionary to Ryan than she would’ve been to Lien

“long-standing convention in US TV to cast actors who are better-looking than the general population, including Mulgrew herself.”

Maybe because the ‘general population’ (lol) is on the poor side and choose (maybe forced?) to eat too much rubbish and do too little exercise. Everyone is actually capable of looking good but it requires a lifestyle choice and to stick to it.

Well, yes, Datamat. I would like to lose weight and be in better shape, but I’m not prepared to fall for any of those “diet and exercise” scams!

So, to be consistent, I’m guessing you also don’t like Shatner, who by most accounts has been a bitch to virtually everyone he has ever met.

If Kate Mulgrew ever decided to return to the role of Kathryn Janeway, I would certainly be interested in watching that, Miniseries or Film.

I’d love to see her opposite Shatner’s Kirk. See how unwatchable we can make the series!

I actually liked them talking together in The Captains documentary. They actually have amazing chemistry together. But yes, Mulgrew would act circles around Shatner but I still love Shatner.

I don’t know… I still think Shatner is underrated as an actor.

As do I. Check out Boston Legal, ML.

Yep. Denny Crane was a good part for him. That’s where he got his Emmy. It was the right part and a he delivered the crisp dialog quite well. But even before Trek I’ve seen him do some stuff that was pretty good. He’s not the greatest actor ever but he’s a pro and better than many give him credit for.

I’m actually far more interested in what became of Janeway than I am of Picard.

Actually, I recall the TOS cast saying Bill was always professional, pleasant and polite on set. They were outraged at stories that he’d pushed, behind the scenes, for more lines.

And decades later the whole thing got trumped up by Takei.

We don’t know at all but I from my perspective Takei is the one who comes across looking like the bad guy in that mess.

no, all the other actors on TOS said that Shatner was very courteous on the set, he was a pro, Mulgrew…not so much…

I was at a con once where Jimmy Doolan had the stage.

I didn’t take away the image of a supercourteous Shatner, or a chef de compagnie.

What Doolan said was that Shatner and Nimoy were younger and would let off steam by pulling pranks and housing around. Doolan told a story about a bicycle…

Not every one felt included nor did Shatner see it as his role to do this. It sounds as though when casting the leads for TNG, DS9 and Discovery, priority was put on finding actors who would be leaders among the actors and Stewart, Brooks and Martin-Green fulfilled this role. Mulgrew and Baluka were experience in carrying shows that heavily focused on a single principal character. It doesn’t sound as though they had the same notion of leading an ensemble or a company of actors.

By the way, I should note that Doolan explained that he was in a different place in his life than Shatner and Nimoy. He was older and had served in WWII. So, for him horsing around and playing military officer wasn’t what he wanted to do. He saw himself as there to act.

Great comment, but want to point out that early on, Stewart was much like Doohan, and refused to goof off on set, and would get upset when the rest of the cast would. He felt they weren’t taking the material seriously. Today, Stewart credits the cast for loosening him up, and attributes this to his later success.

It sound like Sonequa Martin-Green is the best of them all in terms of being a dedicated and disciplined actor while at the same time working to create a positive social atmosphere and playfulness.

I really wish her character Burnham could be consistently written to show Martin-Green’s evident leadership qualities.

or, who calls him out on Twitter!

Wow I had no idea AOC was such a big Janeway/Voyager fangirl! I did read Stacey Adams was a big Voyager fan a few months ago and talked about it, but that video of AOC getting so excited to meet Mulgrew herself was so cute and just a reminder how much this franchise has influenced people from all walks of life for decades now.

And I just love Janeway to death. She’s not exactly a female Picard (unlike him, she actually had a personality and sense of humor ;)) but he is probably the closest model compared to the others. Voyager is not a perfect show by far but most of my love of that show comes from Janeway the same way most of my love of TOS and TNG comes from Kirk and Picard. They are just really interesting characters in their own way.

And Janeway had it the toughest out of any other captain by far. No matter how tough things got for the others, at the end of the day they could all retreat back to Earth at any time. Voyager is really the only show of a ship out there truly alone and no options of retreat. Yes it could’ve been executed better but its still probably the most interesting premise Trek has ever done outside of DS9 of course.

I always felt the final scene of Voyager should have been future Janeway becoming the next Borg Queen.

That would’ve been crazy but VERY interesting lol. And the entire collective would’ve had one large coffee addiction. ;)

Hmm, I kinda like that.

Yes, it was a huge missed opportunity, whether they followed it up on the plot thread or not. It would have made a bittersweet ending without taking anything away from the joy of them returning home.

If you read the Voyager books you’ll see she does, for a time.

I usually don’t go for “real world” stuff in comments, but this caught my eye. I personally disagree with AOC on pretty much everything politically, but I’ve been struck by her obvious charisma and drive since she started out. She was saying she was inspired by Janeway (also didn’t like, but that’s a different story). The takeaway is how you can have a set of characteristics or traits that are really set off by one role model. Doesn’t even have to be a real live person. These kinds of stories fascinate me.

Can I just commend you for writing a thoughtful and respectful comment about someone you don’t even agree with. Modeling good internet discourse is leadership in its own way, so thanks for not delving into a political flame war!

In before the lock.

Thanks, it’s appreciated. I learned it as a teen after someone on a newsgroup blocked me for being less than polite while discussing the intricacies of Babylon 5 style hyperdrive. I realized that there’s a person on the other end with thoughts and feelings. Even if I think the person is a complete waste of space, it’s never worth getting personal over. Especially considering how unlikely it is that I’ll ever change their mind about what we disagree over. Most disagreements, especially political, are ideological, and need much more than a one time comment to give one way or the other.

Gorkenspork, given how this issue has gone on other parts of this thread, it seems clear that other folks don’t seem to be ‘accepting the lesson’ as Sarek would put it.

Kudos to you for doing so!

Wow, so awesome that AOC is a Janeway fan! My organization works closely with her, and I can say assuredly that if anyone is carrying us boldly into the future, it’s AOC. Way to inspire the true next generation, Kate!

My experience of AOC thus far has been the no-nonsense fighter, so I found that clip particularly delightful.

Getting tired already? it’s only 3:30PM!

A bland, rote show that never was able to stand alone. Oh and keep your wack Far left politics to yourself Kate. People don’t care what elitist Hollywood whiners think.

Ah, but many people do. You’re one of those “keep your politics to yourself because I disagree with them” types. I’m sure if she was a Trump supporter you’d be hailing her as heroic!

I would for sure. Not an AOC fan, but Kate can like whomever she wants. Just like I can. :)

Exactly. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and to express it.

Her ex actually ran for governor so it doesn’t come out of nothing, I’m sure there was a reason they were together in the first place.

It could also be that there’s just no way *not* to avoid politics in this day and age, because it’s so important and the moral choice has never been clearer. I find it insufferably boring when celebrities/institutions remain apolitical. If you aren’t speaking out against the atrocities of our time, then are you even doing anything?

I generally do not care to dive into politics. But the following comment caused me a double take…

“and the moral choice has never been clearer.”

Really? It seems to me the moral choice today is probably the muddiest it’s been in a VERY long time.

This, actually, I agree with. But when it comes to certain people being in office over others — I dunno, to me, it’s pretty clear who at least doesn’t deserve to be there

I agree it is pretty clear who doesn’t deserve to win elections. But I guess that depends on how one defines “deserves”.

So if she was a Far Right whack, would that be more acceptable to you?

Actually, people don’t care what you think…especially when you deliver your comment like that.

Keep it to herself? Uh, the interviewer brought up political topics and Kate answered. And you would share your politics too in that situation. Don’t pretend you wouldn’t.

Speaking for myself, if I were an apolitical public figure and was asked such a political question I would dance around it like I’ve never danced before. The desire it to announce to the world your political views. But is that the wise move? Probably not.

ML31, as albatrosity notes, for some of us, it’s impossible to imagine any kind of public life without engaging on public issues (which inevitably gets into politics in a democratic society).

It sounds as though both Kate Mulgrew and Patrick Stewart fall into that category. Americans may be less familiar with Stewart’s political comments (e.g. pro European Union), but he has been quite vocal.

But certainly there are others who wish to keep their views private and would ‘skate’ in response to a question like that. Which is another valid choice in a democracy that protects the secrecy of the vote.

“it’s impossible to imagine any kind of public life without engaging on public issues”

The only response I have to this is that there are quite a few public figures who keep such views murky to invisible.

Exactly ML31.

There are certainly public figures – from athletes to musicians and actors to royalty – who by personal preference keep their politics very private.

But in a democracy, many feel it’s a duty to exercise their democratic rights.

There are some public figures who are required to be silent to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest (in Canada and the UK this includes senior public servants, the Queen and Vice-regal representatives)m. Their only democratic rights may be to vote in secret, and royalty are denied even that. It’s a pretty serious infringement of personal rights for a greater social purpose.

I don’t think we need to ask others to self censor.

It stood alone just fine. And its funny no one cares about right wings whiners on a message board thinks either.

Says the poster boy for TDS.

Didn’t that inept idiot and people like you say for years Obama wasn’t born in America? Talk about derangement syndrome? ;D

IN this case though Trump is inept and deserves to be impeached for all his obstruction over the Russia investigation but I’ll take voted out of office. He’s a complete embarrassment and the reason my most of the country hates him, not to mention most of the world…unless you live in Russia, North Korea or Saudi Arabia of course.

I’m always amused when people call people like AOC “far left”….. I guess that’s the Overton Window in action.

My favorite Star Trek captain. She played the part very well. Makes me happy to see she’s an AOC supporter as well.

Best captain, ever!

I like strong women and Kate is one of the best. AOC most likely benefited from her on screen example but I think there may be some 7 of 9 and Belana Tores in there as well. Definitely some Klingon.

LOL a bit of Janeway, Seven and Torres would make for one fierce woman! AOC does seem to be a little of them all (without the punching I mean).

“LOL”

You are my favorite captain! No one fought as hard as her, best actress in starfleet imo! I live in Charleston, I would love to meet you!

She might well be one of the most likely actors to fetch up in Star Trek: Picard, perhaps as one of his former colleagues. It was established she took a position in the admiralty by the time of Nemesis.

I think the fact that she’s inspired, and practically worships AOC is more than reason enough to burn my Voyager collection. That women is beyond crazy. I thought Kate was much smarter than that. Even Bernie is better than AOC’s crazy rhetoric.

But Trump is OK in your book, right? There is a reason when more than half the country still hate this guy even with a pretty good economy going. Talk about ‘beyond crazy’.

No wonder so many people have left for the TrekWeb forum.

There is no Trekweb forum.

I guess I hurt your feelings…too bad.

You didn’t hurt my feelings at all. What I meant was, the Trekweb forum shut down years ago. Perhaps you meant Trekcore?

Yes, feel free to burn your voyager collection. You’re harming nobody but yourself and your own possessions.

Hey, it is all in good tradition. In 1821 a dude who wrote “The Lorlei Signal” or something said: “Where they burn DVDs, they will, in the end, burn Androids too.”.

One doesn’t necessarily have to like or agree with the people they do business with. Go ahead, burn your DVD collection. I detest the politics of a fellow I do business with. I’d go bail him out of jail if he called me at 3 am because he would do the same for me.

Are you a child? A person you admired said something you don’t agree with and you’re incapable of putting those feelings aside? It’s that easy to have your love for something ruined? As if the fictional character is more important to you than the real person portraying her. I’m actually embarrassed for you. How ironic you couldn’t function in the fictional world Star Trek portrays with your intolerance. Go burn your collection. I’m sure it’ll make headline news. It clearly didn’t mean that much to you in the first place.

Your reaction to him was exactly what you attacked him for.

Ehh. Not really.

I say I’m a Libertarian and vote to move in that minimal government direction. But I really don’t want that. I just want to vote for the candidate that will have the most energy and have the most momentum to move as far as possible in that direction because I don’t like where we are right now. I wonder if those who love AOC are the same. Do her fans are just trying to vote for a candidate that will move as far to the left from where we are now as possible but really don’t want her to get all the way because they recognize that would be bad for the country.

I sometimes think that we speak in extremes in government policy but really only want incremental shifting a few degrees to the left or right but not what the radicals are actually promoting.

I hope this isn’t seen as antagonistic.

WallDoctor, I’m not an American, but I once lived in the US for a fairly long time.

I do think you have a point. I do wonder if people are supporting more extreme positions in the US in order to open up the political space a bit to some new ideas, when it seems that things are stuck.

I’d add however that what is seen as radical or socialist in the US, is often middle of the road liberal democrat (i.e. to the right of social democrat) in the rest of North America and Europe.

For example, universal health coverage: despite having lived in the US, I am startled every time I hear some commentator in the US refer to universal health coverage as ‘social medicine”. Virtually no one in Canada or Europe thinks that government paying for health care is a slippery slope to socialism.

I am Canadian and American and lived the first 23 years of my life in Canada so I did see it fully as socialist. :)

Will Voyager ever be in HD. DVDs are so twenty years ago.

Voyager was my favorite Star Trek and still is. Not just Janeway, but the whole cast. I never warmed up much to the others, while I did watch them.