Why was Kes written off the show?
- Thread starter Kooz
- Start date
Both the producers and the studio felt that the character wasn't working. When the character of Seven of Nine was conceived, there was already a sentiment by the studio that there were too many characters on the show as it was (i.e., they needed to trim the budget) and so someone had to go.
They should have dropped Harry Kim (no disrespect to Garrett Wang), but if I remember correctly, he topped a magazine poll proclaiming him "most attractive man on TV" or some such nonsense. As I understand it, this essentially saved the Ensign's ass!
In other words, Jennifer Lien didn't feature enough boob and wasn't ready to wear skintight catsuits.
Actually, it was a case the producers felt the character had run out of steam. Her relationship with Neelix seemed like a good idea in the beginning, but then less so as the series progressed (it was why they started to have her in more scenes with other characters like the Doctor and Tuvok). The initial idea was to have both Seven and Kes on the show, but the studio said no to having ten regular cast members.
I assume that magazine holds particular influence/sway in the States?
Agreed! Although I don't have any particular problem with the Harry Kim character - I would have selected Kes over him in a heartbeat.
Ah, so that's presumably why DS9 was allowed to have Worf, since there was initially only eight regulars.
It makes me wonder though how Garak could be in more episodes than Jake, when the former is a recurring character and Jake a regular. I bet the answer isn't simple, but it is kind of funny. Nog and Damar also appeared in more episodes than Jake in the last two seasons as well, I think.
Kes's story might not have been going anywhere fast, but she was still 10,000 times more interesting than that ensign guy (whose character went absolutely nowhere). Her interactions with the Doctor were so much better than the cheesy cheese duo of Paris and his young ward, and I really missed seeing her in sickbay for the rest of the show.
Besides that, Kes was a talented nurse on a terribly undermanned medical staff, and was developing telepathic powers that Troi couldn't even dream of. What did Kim do? Some undefined console work on the bridge, and undefined science/engineering filler. There was no reason to keep him in the show. Oh, but his actor ranked in a magazine article, clearly he was the better choice.
Besides that, Kes was a talented nurse on a terribly undermanned medical staff, and was developing telepathic powers that Troi couldn't even dream of. What did Kim do? Some undefined console work on the bridge, and undefined science/engineering filler. There was no reason to keep him in the show. Oh, but his actor ranked in a magazine article, clearly he was the better choice.
There must be hierarchies of "regulars." But I think it just comes down to the writers knowing that Jake wasn't an important character, and not trying to overuse him.
A blonde haired blue eyes woman is common in American magazines.
For an Asian male actor(any Asian male actor) to make such a poll is a rarity. Garrett is also the first Asian actor to have a lead role in a Trek series since Takai. Trek is supposed to be PC. It's more PC to fire one of the 5 White actors to keep the one Asian one for reasons of diversity. Isn't Trek shown Internationally? Being a minority worked in his favor. They didn't care if they were going to develop his character or not. Garrett being Asian was all they wanted him for.
Well the producers claim that the Kes character wasn't working and they didn't know what to do for her, but as sfdebris said in his "One" review - the writers didn't know what to do with ANYONE so it was hardly a special case for Kes. And Kenneth Biller even said in the season 4 extras that it was a pity that Kes left because there was a lot of potential for storylines given her unique physiology and telepathic powers.
SFdebris summed up the Kes/Seven exchange in his Kes retrospective like this
"Overall while you could have replaced Harry with just about anything and not lose, replacing Kes with Seven was like replacing a home theater system with a motorcycle. You haven't actually upgraded, you've just wound up replacing something with something different. You have something new and great but you've also lost something else you've had that you really liked".
Personally I thought getting rid of Kes was a big mistake, her character had a lot of potential and keeping Kes and Seven on the show would have helped make Voyager be more distinctive by not only having it be much more female-centric but also by having a more diverse mix of characters.
SFdebris summed up the Kes/Seven exchange in his Kes retrospective like this
"Overall while you could have replaced Harry with just about anything and not lose, replacing Kes with Seven was like replacing a home theater system with a motorcycle. You haven't actually upgraded, you've just wound up replacing something with something different. You have something new and great but you've also lost something else you've had that you really liked".
Personally I thought getting rid of Kes was a big mistake, her character had a lot of potential and keeping Kes and Seven on the show would have helped make Voyager be more distinctive by not only having it be much more female-centric but also by having a more diverse mix of characters.
Right on both accounts, I believe. However, Sandoval still has a point. Jennifer wasn't in a top 50 of good looking folks, Garrett was. One might even argue if keeping an actor based on looks is in itself the opposite of being PC, despite Garrett being Asian, but I digress.
Wang was the one who was supposed to be canned, but after People magazine declared him to be aesthetically pleasing, they just kicked Jennifer out instead and rewritten the script so that Harry didn't die. And if this isn't true, it's one of the more persistent rumors.
the writers openly admit they dropped the ball when it came to Jake and that it was no fault of the actor or the character. They admitted they were the ones that failed in their duty.
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