Sell me on Kes.

This thread's not really derailing... The train is up on the wheels of one side but it's still on track.

 

What an inviting topic to make one’s first foray onto this forum! I haven’t read through the entire thread, so at the risk of closely echoing those whose thoughts on the subject tend towards the encomium, I have a few things to contribute.

I have always felt that Kes’s portrayal was a consistent and vivid (yes vivid) reiteration of a main part of the original ethos of Star Trek, at least as I perceive it. That is the quality of the expression of humanity as it is projected into an unknown and unknowable future. Can the aspects of our better selves that have been vitiated over time by fear, cynicism, sloth, and exhaustion amongst many other things, be revivified and transmuted into some kind of imperative perhaps, that will inform our efforts to make our way forward?

Despite her nature, Kes, in large measure, embodied this vision of humanity’s ascent. Released from the constraints of tradition and accepted convention, she was free to give full rein to manifesting her questing intelligence, seeking knowledge and elucidation in every corner. The manner of her pursuit of these goals shone an interesting reflection on our own struggles to forge a place in the ST universe. While Kes brought exceptional gifts to bear, her efforts were infused by an indomitable will and determination that always sought alternatives when blocked from the attainment of an objective. Such a single minded focus might well have proved overbearing or worse in its rendering, yet it was leavened by an inherent respect and acknowledgement of the ineluctable value and selfsame significance of the Other, as well as the care and compassion that were such integral parts of Kes’s personality. Kes was certainly capable of missteps and misperceptions, often due to her emotional inexperience and naiveté (see Tuvix and Cold Fire), yet I think always maintained her innate moral sense. Without any further elaboration, I can only say that IMO this is a character far removed from the oft expressed description of being plainly bland, but even with the limited exposure given, is compelling and left a tantalizing expectation of what might have been.

That an actor of Jennifer Lien’s youth fashioned such a performance, basically from whole cloth given the questionable setup and development afforded by the show runners, attests to the special talents she possesses in abundance. In her work both in Voyager and elsewhere (the latter sample admittedly slight), Lien uniformly displayed a fine intuitive grasp, an often striking expressiveness, and a keen, sometimes daring intelligence in her choices, all of these facilities lauded by her colleagues long after one could even plausibly suggest that such comments might have been merely affirmatively supportive.

One last thing to say about Jennifer Lien, not so much about her acting ability. I have long sensed something ineffable when regarding the totality of her presence, from her introduction on Voyager through her life post-career, the latter pretty much non-existent as Lien has basically fallen off the face of the earth. Still, knowing what I do about the vagaries of what she has dealt with over the last decade or so and where she is today, I have finally defined this thoroughly poignant quality. Accuse me of weltschmerz if you will, but JENNIFER LIEN INSPIRES EMPATHY!!!!


That’s my case and I’m sticking to it!!!!

 

You know that it was Kes who really killed Tuvix.

 

Love does that sometimes, it kills what you love the most even while trying to save what you love the most.

I remember when George Costanza finally got back together with Susan who he was so deeply regretting losing and the day they got back together he was walking upstairs to her apartment as if a thousand ton boulder of Susan was on his shoulders.

 

Susan was so hot.

 

NO SHE WAS NOT

 

Elaine was hotter.

 

Kramer or NOTHING!

 

Elaine. They're real and spectacular.

Okay, now we derailed.

 

So were George's.

 

Yes, I suppose the die was cast after her chin wag with Mom. She had been coming around to appreciate his virtues, but his putting her in the position of essentially being the last hope/arbiter of thumbs up/down was too much, at this time anway, for her to emotionally come to terms with. Perhaps Season 3 Kes might have been at such a remove that she could have suggested that he simply be cloned and consequently removed to the lower decks never to be seen again!! But then that would have sliced off such a significant part of the Voyager Sturm und Drang that we all have come to treasure over the years.

 

Kes didn't kill Tuvix!

No one killed anyone. Janeway restored Tuvok and Neelix back to normal, that was it.

 

Cloning is such a good solution to so many problems and yet they never do it. Ethical thingies about creating folk as a hotfix. This is like some root psychological difference in Star Trek and Star Wars.

 

But in Tuvix's case, couldn't they have cloned him (duplicating his pattern in the transporter) then restored Tuvok and Neelix?

 

So the one you clone you make sure is unconscious when cloning is complete so you don't end up with another Tuvix screaming to be saved?

 

All in all I think George probably loved Marisa Tomei Pillow the most. No commitment or embarrassment (at least that he couldn't explain away).

 

A pillow and a block of cheese and he was a happy man.

 

I wonder if they seriously thought about how the dynamic might work with 7 and Kes. I am going to say I think they would have thought having Harry there would be useful for the sexing up of the show, just as someone to put in the same room as 7 and, tension etc.. because they weren't brave enough or interested enough to do that with a female character and 7.