Who Should Have Left in Season Four?

[Michael]

I realize this is a question which gets asked a lot around here, but I figure it doesn't hurt if I ask again. Inspired by the thread about The Gift I wonder which main character you would have cast off when Seven of Nine was introduced to the series and someone had to go.

By the way, I don't necessarily intend for this to be 'Which character did you hate the most?' Personally, I would have rather dispose of Harry Kim instead of Kes, but that doesn't mean that I hated him. I just found him to be less interesting and entertaining than Jen Lien's Kes and thought his character wasn't going anywhere. Kes on the other hand promised a lot of intriguing story possibilities. So I would have kept her.

 

[TheGodBen]

I'll vote for Chakotay. I have nothing against the character, but I believe that his arc ended with Seska's death, the completion of Maquis integration, and the acceptance that he and Janeway could never work as an item so long as they serve on the ship. The fact that he hardly did anything important over the final four seasons also helps this choice.

I think Kim had a lot of untapped potential that they could have used in later seasons and the same can be said of Kes. Even though Neelix annoyed me as a side character, when episodes focused on him they tended to be good so I'd keep him around.

 

[freak]

I do agree about Chakotay's character, however, I thought he had more potential to grow than Kim did. Although I liked Kim's and Paris' banter together, I was never a huge Kim fan..but that didn't mean I hated him either. I'd prefer him go over Kes as I thought that Kes had alot more potential as well to grow as a character. Plus I wished they had never really brought in 7 of 9 or whatever her name is. I have nothing against her character either but one thing that irritated me was that SHE was the reason Voyager was so popular..after she came on board, more and more viewers watched. It's not just one character that makes a show-it's about a whole cast! That's just MHO on the matter.

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

Hm. I'd probably say Chakotay, for the same reasons as THEGodBen above, but I'm also of the opinion that if the bossmen's Unfavorite (DS9) could afford to add to their cast, they didn't really need to cut a character simply to make room for Seven of Nine.

Plus side, though, it would mean we wouldn't have the C/7 stuff of Endgame.

 

[nx1701g]

I'm happy with the way things turned out.

 

[Kegg]

Hm. My kneejerk reaction remains Kim, but TheGodBen makes an excellent case for Chuckles. Either one, really, they're the two weakest links in VOY's cast. Removing Chakotay does have the advantage of leaving room at the top command-wise - Tuvok could have got his job, for instance, which would mean more dialogue for Tim Russ.

How is more dialogue for Tim Russ not a fortuituous development?

However, Chuckles is also one of the few characters Seven doesn't overlap with. She has Kim's job (and arguably to an extent Torres' job), she has the Doc's character arc, Kes's relationship to the Doc, and Tuvok's cold, logical personality. Then again, she doesn't overlap with Chakotay because by this point he's pretty much got nothing.

Hm. I'd probably say Chakotay, for the same reasons as THEGodBen above, but I'm also of the opinion that if the bossmen's Unfavorite (DS9) could afford to add to their cast, they didn't really need to cut a character simply to make room for Seven of Nine.

True, but for whatever reason VOY was operating under the premise they had to. They were going to cut Kim, and then cut Kes instead, there was never any talk of leaving the crew intact. I'm sure something about budget had something to do with why VOY had to lose a crewmember but DS9 didn't. Or something.

Also, NCC-1701, brilliant avatar from an excellent film. I actually used an M avatar on another board once, but that thing is splendid.

 

[Shazam!]

Harry, Chakotay, Neelix and B'Elanna.

 

[Eyes]

I'd say Neelix, he was kind of useless to the crew past Fair Trade aside from being the cook, and Kes had more story possibilities than him.

Chakotay annoyed me in the early seasons by not doing much acting, but after Season 4, I actually began to like him, especially in episodes like Waking Moments and Mortal Coil, where he actually made it bearable to watch.

And of course I like Kim best, so I wouldn't get rid of him.

I do still like Neelix, but the writers didn't do a lot with him, and sometimes he ended up being more an annoyance than he was worth. I would prefer to keep everybody if possible.

 

[JustKate]

I say Neelix, too. He had some good moments, but not very many, and I think his character's poential was about used up. Or maybe I was by then so tired of him that I simply couldn't see any potential - I don't actually dislike Neelix, but jeeeeeeeeeez was he annoying. Kim was a wasted character, but goodness knows his character's potential wasn't used up, seeing as the writers had done nothing with him! So that's why Neelix edged him out in my own personal "Who would I have gotten rid of?" hierarchy.

 

[Saito S]

Hmm... tough one. I personally didn't have too much of a problem with Kes being the one that left, because she was one of my least favorite characters. I didn't mind her, but I just found her kind of dull, I guess. Having said that... Neelix was annoying, Kim wasn't going anywhere, but I think I might have to go with Chakotay, basically for the reasons that TheGod... I mean, TheGhoulBen covered. Kim had potential still; they didn't end up using it, really, but it was there, and I do agree that Neelix wasn't ALWAYS annoying. Chakotay, to me, was equal parts mildly irritating and just plain boring, with the occasional interesting moment or two. Plus, having the first officer depart/die/whatever would have been pretty interesting (and had never been done on Trek mid-series).

And the possibilities that would spring from that are very interesting: Tuvok could become first officer, and Kim's development could have been taken in a completely new direction, as he moves to a position at tactical to fill that void (which would in turn leave Seven to really shine without worry of "doing Kim's job"). And as much as the character never really grabbed me personally, having Kes around with Seven and some of the better stories from seasons 4-7 certainly had potential.

Sadly, based on most of what we saw from Voyager after season 4, I seriously doubt that any of this potenial would have been realized or put to good use.

 

[RyuRoots]

Upon reading the thread's OP, my first thoughts were "Harry Kim. No question, Harry Kim." but other posters bring up good points, and really, Chakotay might've been a better choice to leave.

Neelix was often annoying, but he had potential to be a really good character, I think (like in Drive where he talks to Torres). I agree with what Saito that Chakotay biting it would be unexpected, and it would give Tuvok, Harry, and Seven more chances to shine (You die, and we all move up in rank!). And really, Chakotay was a lost cause by this point anyway, because they decided to focus on "HEY GUYS HE'S AN INDIAN" as his only character trait.

And I've always been sad that Kes left. Honestly, I don't think she had that many great episodes, but I really liked her character, and thought the arc building with her mental powers was interesting and could've made for some intriguing developments both for her and VOY as a whole. Oh well.

 

[mirandafave]

Ah missing the true potential here if Chakotay went - Tuvok becomes XO and Ayala becomes tactical!

 

[JustKate]

^ ^ But the same thing could be said about Harry, really - only with Harry, it was "HEY GUYS, HE'S THE NAIVE ENSIGN." Like Harry, Chakotay had lots of potential as a character, but it was potential that was simply not used. The writers put both characters in slots and left them there.

 

[RyuRoots]

^ ^ But the same thing could be said about Harry, really - only with Harry, it was "HEY GUYS, HE'S THE NAIVE ENSIGN." Like Harry, Chakotay had lots of potential as a character, but it was potential that was simply not used. The writers put both characters in slots and left them there.

A fair point. But it seems like it'd be easier to rescue Harry from his trap than Chakotay from his (not that they did either, ultimately). At least they lampshaded Harry's eternal ensign-ness in S7

 

[Lynx]

No one should have been kicked out. Voyager had the best cast of all the Trek shows, there was no need for any change.

They should have kept the original characters even if they had to add Seven.

 

[Guy Gardener]

But they could only afford Jeri and one of her boobs without firing Jenny. I don't mean to be a misogynistic much... But I have entirely seen the parent trap too many times.

 

[TheGodBen]

Ah missing the true potential here if Chakotay went - Tuvok becomes XO and Ayala becomes tactical!

We'd never hear the line "Shields at __%!" again, he'd just stand there silently, maybe saying "Aye captain" every year or so.

 

[Kegg]

Tuvok could always have been XO and the Security Officer, much like how two other Vulcan XOs we know double-tasked as science officers (T'Pol and, um.... Sonak from TMP. Hey, he was probably the XO. I'm sure there are others too).

Shoving Kim into the job is a tad frightfully conveinent, but then, so is Geordi going into engineering... so I like.

 

[Thestral]

I voted for Kim. I can see the argument for Chakotay, but I liked the guy more than Kim, sorry. Neelix could be obnoxious, but he added a bit of character at times.

Anyone but Kes though. She was my favorite Voyager character, and was just starting to shine.

 

[RyuRoots]

I voted for Kim. I can see the argument for Chakotay, but I liked the guy more than Kim, sorry. Neelix could be obnoxious, but he added a bit of character at times.

Anyone but Kes though. She was my favorite Voyager character, and was just starting to shine.

She wasn't my favorite character in the cast, but I did like her, and I agree that she was finally starting to come into her own. So naturally, as this happens, they nix her.