I'm in the mood for Seska!

[somebuddyX]

I'm ambivalent on Seska. I like the period of time she's around in mostly, but I liked it more for how Voyager was building their secondary characters and Seska was just one part of it. I'm not really a fan of her part in "Worst Case Scenario" I don't think it tracks with her personality just before she leaves the ship in "State of Flux" but also I was really enjoying that episode as just an exploration of the ship Voyager beginning to create it's own art and entertainment and then it changes into a slasher film.
I really quite liked Martha Hackett as T'Rul and I would have preferred to have seen more of that character. She could have returned to DS9 post her work on "Basics" in DS9 Season 5 or I wondered about putting her in the Cretak role from DS9 Season 7 and give her the same fate so that it lands more.

 

[warp-coil]

I'm wondering how Kazon docs were able to restore her Cardassian appearance at all. They don't seem like a particularly medically advanced people.

Hah, That’s a good question. Was her Cardassian-lite appearance a result of the Kazon doctors sheer inability or was it a creative direction by the production?

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Personally, I got the impression that it was meant to be her Cardassian physiology reasserting itself, that whatever her handlers did to make her appear Bajoran started to wear down and away over time - y’know, how long was she expected to stay under cover, even if she could supplement it with drugs or something, where was she going to get those...

And then, because of the combination of “nah, we don’t really need to CARE” and Rick Berman being all “don’t ruin her by slapping on all that face putty and make her ugly,” they just stopped making it a progression away from Bajoran and back to Cardassian, keeping her physically a mix of the two.

 

[at Quark's]

I don't really buy the 'wearing down' theory. Presumably she was in the Maquis for years, and her disguise was pretty much perfect up until the moment she beamed away. And then the first time we see her again she looks distinctly (even if not fully) Cardassian.

Unless of course she had to frequently 'repair' / maintain her disguise anyway with some toolkit and no longer needed to do that after she left Voyager.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

“Years”? The Maquis FORMED the prior season on DS9, late in the season. We had Tuvok as part of Chakotay’s bridge crew, and HE was a Starfleet infiltrator. If Starfleet could get someone in there to that position in maybe a few months, the Obsidian Order damn well could do the same, and probably in a fraction of the time. The timeframe from Maquis inception to Voyager’s abduction is maybe about six months or so.

And it’s not like she’d have access to any suppressive drugs among the Kazon - if any survived the destruction of the Maquis ship in Caretaker, she didn’t have any with her when she escaped Voyager.

 

[at Quark's]

“Years”? The Maquis FORMED the prior season on DS9, late in the season. We had Tuvok as part of Chakotay’s bridge crew, and HE was a Starfleet infiltrator. If Starfleet could get someone in there to that position in maybe a few months, the Obsidian Order damn well could do the same, and probably in a fraction of the time. The timeframe from Maquis inception to Voyager’s abduction is maybe about six months or so..

Thank you for correcting me on this one. I wasn't conscious only so little time had elapsed between the foundation of the Maquis and the disappearance of Voyager (even though I could have known it had I tried to place these events in a timeline).

And it’s not like she’d have access to any suppressive drugs among the Kazon - if any survived the destruction of the Maquis ship in Caretaker, she didn’t have any with her when she escaped Voyager.

I think even if she would have had such access, she might simply have stopped taking it. After all, everyone on Voyager would know she was Cardassian and switched sides to the Kazon, and the Kazon probably didn't care about her appearance, so why keep up the disguise any longer in the first place?

 

[Weyoun 251]

Just a thought on what could have been interesting - what if Tuvok and Seska had known about each other?

So let's say the Fed and Cardassians agree that spies come in pairs almost to make sure both sides have the same intel (I know that isn't how spycraft works but think of it as information sharing on a common problem).

So Tuvok would know about Seska but might not reveal her true identity to protect her from reprisals if it was revealed.

You could create a confidant relationship between the two as the only one who knows the truth and it would potentially make her more sympathetic.

Could have then had a story where she gets discovered and had to run, ending up in the arms of the Kazon.

She seemed a bit too mustache twirling villain (especially with Worst Case Scenario - even though I love the episode) but this would have possibly made her work better and make more sense for reasons.

Could even have her be mistreated by the Kazon and actually escape back to Voyager before then having to be reintegrated into the crew. Throw in the Dominion War which they learn about due to EMH travelling to the Alpha Quad in S4 and you could have real fun there

 

[at Quark's]

Just a thought on what could have been interesting - what if Tuvok and Seska had known about each other?

So let's say the Fed and Cardassians agree that spies come in pairs almost to make sure both sides have the same intel (I know that isn't how spycraft works but think of it as information sharing on a common problem).

So Tuvok would know about Seska but might not reveal her true identity to protect her from reprisals if it was revealed.

You could create a confidant relationship between the two as the only one who knows the truth and it would potentially make her more sympathetic.

It's an interesting idea, but I doubt it would've worked. Tuvok being the extremely scrupulous security officer that he is, in his new role as head of Voyager security would have identified Seska as not just another Maquis member, but as an separate security element with unknown allegiance (knowing how treacherous Cardassian operatives can be). He might even have felt that as they were no longer in the Alpha Quadrant, and the Maquis crew fell under Starfleet rules now, there was no more reason to keep upholding the 'spy deal' and to inform Janeway about Seska's identity.

 

[Weyoun 251]

It's an interesting idea, but I doubt it would've worked. Tuvok being the extremely scrupulous security officer that he is, in his new role as head of Voyager security would have identified Seska as not just another Maquis member, but as an separate security element with unknown allegiance (knowing how treacherous Cardassian operatives can be). He might even have felt that as they were no longer in the Alpha Quadrant, and the Maquis crew fell under Starfleet rules now, there was no more reason to keep upholding the 'spy deal' and to inform Janeway about Seska's identity.

So I'd maybe have Janeway know as part of her brief to find the ship when it is lost in the Badlands.

I wonder if Seska and Tuvok could have developed a mutual respect while undecover?

You points are all fair based on what we know but I think also it could be mitigated depending on the writing

 

[at Quark's]

I suppose that would be possible, yes.
It would of course have necessitated tweaking the 'traitor on board of Voyager' story arc (especially its apotheosis State of Flux).

 

[Weyoun 251]

I suppose that would be possible, yes.
It would of course have necessitated tweaking the 'traitor on board of Voyager' story arc (especially its apotheosis State of Flux).

Oh yeah, and maybe my line of thinking would suit the "How would you change the series" thread.

The level of thought I've put into this is a 5 minute run through so appreciate it leaves plot holes and difficulties all over the place. Maybe I need to polish the thought

 

[at Quark's]

An interesting plot complication would be, would they tell Chakotay? He's still the XO, after all.

Tell him, and you can't really have the climactic lover-turned-sour scene between Chakotay and Seska.
Don't tell him, and he might bear a grudge against Janeway and Tuvok for some time after he finds out, and not fully trust them. Which in itself might lead to new storylines.

 

[Weyoun 251]

An interesting plot complication would be, would they tell Chakotay? He's still the XO, after all.

Tell him, and you can't really have the climactic lover-turned-sour scene between Chakotay and Seska.
Don't tell him, and he might bear a grudge against Janeway and Tuvok for some time after he finds out, and not fully trust them. Which in itself might lead to new storylines.

You would then have to make Chakotay interesting too which I'm sure a few people have opinions on

 

[Qonundrum]

I'm in the mood for

.

You're in the mood for General Zod?

 

[Ragitsu]

You're in the mood for General Zod?

With Zod, one must always be in the mood for him; he accepts no other state of submission.

 

[Oddish]

You know, speaking of Zod, I wonder if they ever got around to changing Mt. Rushmore back...

 

[Farscape One]

It's a real shame both Seska and Suder were killed in "BASICS, PART II". Having either stick around would have been fantastic... having both would have been a dream come true. Even if it's only for one more season.

I keep imagining there's an episode with just those two together that should have been made.

 

[Ragitsu]

It's a good thing Star Trek: Voyager aired pre-2002; Brad Dourif would have become too expensive to keep around as a regular.

 

[Oddish]

It's a real shame both Seska and Suder were killed in "BASICS, PART II". Having either stick around would have been fantastic... having both would have been a dream come true. Even if it's

Agreed. Add that fact to the type of show they were committing to with that change... with no recurring characters like those two, it gets a lot easier to dance on the Big Red Reset Button.

 

[DonIago]

I thought it was particularly wasteful that they killed off Hogan as well. So much for Voyager's dabbling in recurring characters with some personality. That episode really seemed to go out of its way to close the book on a number of dangling threads.