Kes on Acid

[Boy Wonder]

I'm curious to know why rumours started spreading that the reason why Jennifer Lien left the show was due to substance abuse and was fired as a result. I think I read about it on IMDB. Also, were these rumours specifically around her departure or after she left or did people hear rumours even before they knew she was going to be fired.

 

[exodus]

You're stirring up a pot of trouble.

 

[Boy Wonder]

Why is it a pot of trouble? It's just a rumour. So did it start long before her departure or was it some vicious smear campaign on Jennifer Lien?

 

[exodus]

Why is it a pot of trouble? It's just a rumour. So did it start long before her departure or was it some vicious smear campaign on Jennifer Lien?

Because certain Kes fans are very sensitive about the issue.

Many can't distinguish "rumor" doesn't equal "fact", not to mention Kes post are always controversial being that Jen Lien has been the only actress to be "let go" from Trek.

There have been many rumors on why Lien was let go, unfortunately nobody knows for sure what the exact reason is. Everybody just has a theory.

There is no confromation on the drug rumor. All I can say having met Lien myself along with many others that have and agree, that Mrs. Lien does behave rather "oddly" in person. I think that's what fueled the rumors. Lien is also rumored to be very nervous in crowds, so she could be taking something to help her anxiety which causes her to come across as loopy.

However once again, I can't confirm or deny the rumors. Jen Lien's personal life isn't my business.

I will say this, posting the title "Kes on Acid" just might get you allot of negitive attention.

 

[kimc]

Many can't distinguish "rumor" doesn't equal "fact", not to mention Kes post are always controversial being that Jen Lien has been the only actress to be "let go" from Trek.

Tone it down. Personally, I have more faith in our resident Kes fans.

As far as the rumor goes I've yet to see anyone prove it.

 

[ALF]

I had just assumed that the Kes character didn't resonate as the producers had liked, and replaced with Seven of Nine which was a retooling attempt to help sagging ratings.

Personally, I find Seven more exciting than Kes. But the argument for drug abuse makes it rather ridiculous when you consider Kes appeared in one or two flashback-y episodes afterwards. Didn't she? One where she was "evil" and another when the ship was split into different timezones?

 

[RoJoHen]

Many can't distinguish "rumor" doesn't equal "fact", not to mention Kes post are always controversial being that Jen Lien has been the only actress to be "let go" from Trek.

Tone it down. Personally, I have more faith in our resident Kes fans.

As far as the rumor goes I've yet to see anyone prove it.

Jennifer Lien is one of my friend's cousins, and she says it's false.

 

[Plecostomus]

I love how anytime anyone acts a little outside "the norm" people automatically assume it's drugs.

People cannot have quirky personalities anymore just on their own "there must be drugs involved" hmm?

I have a friend who has a bit of a nervous condition triggered by social settings. Makes him fidget and shake. Great worker, helped train me. New supervisor got ahold of him and let him go for "suspected drug use" because he wouldn't stop fidgeting in a tense situation.

*shakes head* Jenifer Lien could have been "let go" for any number of reasons and honestly it just doesn't matter. I'm not a big fan of her work on Voyager but honestly this sort of speculation is... pointless.

 

[exodus]

Many can't distinguish "rumor" doesn't equal "fact", not to mention Kes post are always controversial being that Jen Lien has been the only actress to be "let go" from Trek.

Tone it down. Personally, I have more faith in our resident Kes fans.

We shall see.

 

[propita]

Gee, for someone who might "fidget" or whatever in tense situations, she did one sweet job on the show. Kes was usually a pretty-under-control character (well, except for "Fury" and that episode where Kes was taken over by that despot--and she was fan-tas-tic in that).

I think the studio and/or producers and/or writers really screwed over the show in general and many cast members in particular.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I have an intense dislike of the character Kes (because I think she is sickly sweet) but I have nothing personally against the actress Jennifer Lien. There used to be one poster who was very upset over Lien's "brutal firing" but I suspect that Lien got over her dismissal a great deal quicker than that member did - at least I hope she did otherwise I would say she had emotional issues that needed to be redress.

I can't say all that much about Jennifer's acting ability. I don't think she really had enough skill to pull the character of Kes off as well as a more experience actress would have but this was her first major acting role so I can give her a little leanway. I thought she was OK in American History X which is the only other role I have seen her in.

I don't care if Lien had a drug problem or not. Plenty of people in the business have substance issues and to me it is a non-issue if she did. I don't care about actors personal lives , all the matters to me is how they come across on the screen.

All that said I must admit I found Lien's voice annoying and I can't understand why other people liked her voice so much.

 

[c0rnedfr0g]

...when you consider Kes appeared in one or two flashback-y episodes afterwards. Didn't she? One where she was "evil" and another when the ship was split into different timezones?

She was "evil" in Fury, but that episode was a bit controversial because many folks felt the character already had a good send-off in The Gift. The other episode you refer to, Shattered, didn't have Kes, although it probably should have (or at least we can assume she was somewhere on Voyager).

 

[Unicron]

I seem to recall that Kim was originally supposed to die in "Scorpion," and they had a choice between Garret Wang or Jennifer Lien leaving the cast to make room for Seven. So Kes was written out instead, not very well in either "The Gift" or "Fury."

 

[exodus]

I seem to recall that Kim was originally supposed to die in "Scorpion," and they had a choice between Garret Wang or Jennifer Lien leaving the cast to make room for Seven. So Kes was written out instead, not very well in either "The Gift" or "Fury."

I disagree, I think "The Gift" & "Fury" were good send offs for the character. It would have been much easier to simply kill her off much like Yar & Jadzia Dax but they didn't take the easy road. They allowed a character that was falling into the background to have an epic exit by becoming a powerful being and still remain alive, giving the writers and Kes a chance to return in another series, film or to continue in stories.

 

[Unicron]

The problem with "The Gift" is that Kes' mental abilities, which weren't used consistently to begin with, were arbitrarily made a huge leap more powerful just so there was a reason to get her off the ship. They were a plot device for that purpose, not a real problem that was central to the character. "Fury" is another matter entirely. Yar and Jadzia were both killed in the line of duty, so their departures were more fitting to me.

 

[Searider Falcon]

I seem to recall that Kim was originally supposed to die in "Scorpion," and they had a choice between Garret Wang or Jennifer Lien leaving the cast to make room for Seven. So Kes was written out instead, not very well in either "The Gift" or "Fury."

That's how I always understood it happened and is the story I'm inclined to believe. Supposedly, what kept Garrett Wang from the being the one to get the ax was an article in People Magazine on him, one of their 50 Most Beautiful or something.

 

[Jeri]

...being that Jen Lien has been the only actress to be "let go" from Trek..."

Grace Lee Whitney, from Memory Alpha:

"...Intended to appear in far more episodes than she ultimately did, Whitney's Yeoman Rand was often written out of episodes, due to the actress' struggle with alcohol, weight, and drug issues. In her autobiography, The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, Whitney describes two incidents in which she was sexually assaulted by members of the Star Trek production team, neither of whom is identified by name. Replaced by Dr. Helen Noel in "Dagger of the Mind", Whitney was ultimately fired, appearing only in the background of her final episode, "The Conscience of the King". Sliding deeper into addiction and even prostitution, Whitney began her recovery in the 1980s and has gone on to appear in many more Star Trek productions..."

She truly was fired for drug and alcohol problems; it may be where this rumor got started.

 

[roguephoenix]

i really liked kes, especially when her powers began to grow. she could have been a great char to keep over kim. she's one of those "what if she'd stayed" chars like tasha yar.

i loved her return as dark phoenix in her final ep. i also liked that they actually got her to go back home. maybe she'll inspire the rest of the ocampa to be more bold. imagine a race of super telekinetics/telepaths roaming about the galaxy. galaxy beware!

 

[Boy Wonder]

Yes, I didn't think Lien was the only one let go from Trek. Though with so many problems beset Whitney it really isn't any wonder. I still think Crosby may have been pushed. Also, wasn't McFadden let go first and then they allowed her to come back?

Nobody has answered my question really. I didn't expect a definite answer but did people hear of these rumours upon meeting Jennifer Lien and deciding she acts weird and not the norm labelled her a drug fiend or were their rumours when she joined and was still a star on it?

 

[exodus]

The problem with "The Gift" is that Kes' mental abilities, which weren't used consistently to begin with, were arbitrarily made a huge leap more powerful just so there was a reason to get her off the ship. They were a plot device for that purpose, not a real problem that was central to the character. "Fury" is another matter entirely. Yar and Jadzia were both killed in the line of duty, so their departures were more fitting to me.

Again I disagree, "Coldfire" shows and explains the extent of Ocampian mental abilities and exactly what she saw beyond the sub-atomic as well as why she became the way she did in "Fury". Writers had thought all about this long before they had decided to let the character go. "Coldfire" and "Fury" are actually bookend eps.

Tanis tells Kes in "Coldfire" that once she gains full ability of her mental powers, her like others Ocampians on Susperia's array will have the ability to enhance life as well as take it away. Due too that, she will start to look upon other humanoids as pets and beneath her. Also if you notice in "Coldfire" when Kes burns the plants it gives her something close to sexual release. It gives her a thrill!! Tanis also tells Kes that she can exsist on a plane of nothing but mental energy similar to the astral plane, Exosha is what he calls it. This is what Kes sees beyond the sub-atomic.

At the end of the ep. Kes is talking to Tuvok and she tells him: " My mental abilities scare me because they let out my darker impulses." She's basically telling him her powers overwhelms her better judgement and she enjoys it. She then tells him: "I will never use them again." Tuvok then states: "You shouldn't be afraid of your darker impulses, we all have them. You must learn to accept that side of yourself." So knowing that she's dangerous, he still encourages her to use them.

So encountering Species 8472 cause her abilities to go out of wack and lets those dark impulses out again. Notice how Kes stops Seven of Nine from contacting the Borg, she eletrocutes her! So she becomes an energy being and enters Exosha after leaving the ship and the thrill of her dark impulses, deteriorating mental state due to aging as explained in "Before & After" and being alone without proper guidance causes "Fury" Kes.

All of this was thought out well in advance.