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A few things to discuss about Kes

Garak was humiliated and destroyed in that book by McCormack. Does anyone dare to change that or are they all slaves to what could be regarded as "Star Trek Books Canon"?
If the Star Trek books were canon, I wouldn't have cause for complaint about Harry anymore. He's received the promotion he deserved in several of them, and in none has he been kept at ensign after Voyager's return.
But such a scenario don't make good stories.
But it makes happy endings.
Insurrection was horrible. I never watched These Are The Voyages but what I can see, that episode is not very popular among Star Trek fans.
My trouble with Insurrection is that I didn't agree with Picard's position. I'm like Spock; I tend to believe that the needs of the many DO outweigh the needs of the few.

But if they had to make it, better to end TNG there and move on to the DS9 and VOY crews for ST X.
It was a mistake to come up with a retro series after VOY.
Especially since they really didn't. ENT had transporters, phasers, photon torpedoes... it was just more of the same.
Many of the truths we hold on to depend greatly on our own point of view.
Use the force, Luke.
I do not see destruction when I can watch Star Trek whenever I want and ignore what I don't like.
Maybe... but I also dislike it when good characters get a raw deal. And quite a few of them did. I didn't read the book Lynx hates so much, but I agree with him about Gowron and Kes. And I think the Ferengi as a whole got screwed in the end, too.
 
Maybe... but I also dislike it when good characters get a raw deal. And quite a few of them did. I didn't read the book Lynx hates so much, but I agree with him about Gowron and Kes. And I think the Ferengi as a whole got screwed in the end, too.
I just have a different mindset. Much of the stories I enjoyed as a child were Downers, even with Star Trek. I no longer go into the happily ever after premise of endings depending on the story told.


I get the passion to a degree; I don't care for Kirk or Data's death (and I don't even like Data). But I can appreciate the stories. The older I get the less I want characters to last for ever.
 
Many of the truths we hold on to depend greatly on our own point of view.


I do not see destruction when I can watch Star Trek whenever I want and ignore what I don't like.
If you look at it that way, I can understand some of your points, even if I don't agree on them.
My problem is that i have got too much to ignore then in recent years.
What I have to look forward to when it comes to Star Trek is a new "Relaunch" of DS9 which I will start on Christmas Eve! :techman:

If the Star Trek books were canon, I wouldn't have cause for complaint about Harry anymore. He's received the promotion he deserved in several of them, and in none has he been kept at ensign after Voyager's return.
In that case, that would be something to be a bit happy for.

I actually appreaced the attempts to restore Kes in the Dark Matter books written by Christie Golden and the String Theory book Evolution written by Heather Jarman, even if what was there were far away from what I really wish for the character.

Maybe there will be someone who dare to give Kim a promotion somewhere in some movie or series. Not so complicated as to come up with a decent restore of Kes which probably seems to be too hard and controversial to do.
But it makes happy endings.
Does it?
Becoming a boring old fart isn't exactly a happy ending, rather quite boring.

And who needs "endings" when it's possible to have more interesting stories about those characters?
My trouble with Insurrection is that I didn't agree with Picard's position. I'm like Spock; I tend to believe that the needs of the many DO outweigh the needs of the few.
My sincere apology here. It wasn't my intention to trash Insurrection when I was thinking about Nemesis which was really horrible!

I just mixed them up, most likely because I was tired when I replied to that previous post. There were a lot to reply to and at the end I just wanted to finish it so I probably lost concentration for a while.

Insurrection wasn't particularily good but it was ten times better than Nemesis.

As for the quote from Spock, I rather agree with Neelix in the VOY episode Learning Curve when he stated that "sometimes you have to bend the rules".
But if they had to make it, better to end TNG there and move on to the DS9 and VOY crews for ST X.
No it had been better to never come up with Nemesis. That one was horrible!
And I'm happy that we never had to see the DS9 and VOY characters in that mess.
Especially since they really didn't. ENT had transporters, phasers, photon torpedoes... it was just more of the same.
It was just a step in the wrong direction, just like if the music industry should abandon the recording techniques we have today and go back to what they did in the 30's with an otrrchestra, a singer and a microphone in the middle of the room plus the kind of records which broke if you dropped them.

Plus how established Star Trek history was messed up which is always the danger with prequels.


Maybe... but I also dislike it when good characters get a raw deal. And quite a few of them did. I didn't read the book Lynx hates so much, but I agree with him about Gowron and Kes. And I think the Ferengi as a whole got screwed in the end, too.
In this I agree. Kes and Gowron were too great as characters to be treated like they were and the whole change of ferengi society was stupid.

As for the book, I found it so unnecessary and cruel to come up with a story where Garak is "revealed" as a war criminal (which he never was according to DS9 "canon") and then use it as a reason to humiliate, destroy and finally kill off the character, a character who could have been a prominent person in more books!

Not to mention that I did take it a bit personal since I actually had praised McCormack's earlier books about Cardassia in which Garak played a major part and written that her books had made me find new hope in TrekLit in a post written only a few days before I found out about the content in that book. It felt like I was stabbed in the back by someone I actually praised.

I just have a different mindset. Much of the stories I enjoyed as a child were Downers, even with Star Trek. I no longer go into the happily ever after premise of endings depending on the story told.


I get the passion to a degree; I don't care for Kirk or Data's death (and I don't even like Data). But I can appreciate the stories. The older I get the less I want characters to last for ever.
The contrary with me. The older I get, the more I want the characters to be around for further episodes.
I've always regarded aging as a curse!
 
Maybe there will be someone who dare to give Kim a promotion somewhere in some movie or series. Not so complicated as to come up with a decent restore of Kes which probably seems to be too hard and controversial to do.
Without Jennifer Lien available, probably not.

As for Harry... they tried. They tried to add him to Prodigy, it got canceled. They tried to add him to Picard, his appearance was canceled. They tried to off-camera promote him by putting him on the wall of heroes... but that's been deleted. My hopes aren't high at this juncture.

Does it?
Becoming a boring old fart isn't exactly a happy ending, rather quite boring.

Sure it is. Your character has gone through hell, and now they're ready to live the good life. There's a reason why "may you live in interesting times" is considered a curse.

And who needs "endings" when it's possible to have more interesting stories about those characters?

If you're not planning on continuing a character's story, it makes sense to leave them in a good place. Better than that travesty of an ending for Voyager, where they spent half the episode telling us what DIDN'T happen.

My sincere apology here. It wasn't my intention to trash Insurrection when I was thinking about Nemesis which was really horrible!
No it had been better to never come up with Nemesis. That one was horrible!

Nemesis is the movie that should have been deleted in favor of the DS9/VOY crossover.

Plus how established Star Trek history was messed up which is always the danger with prequels.

To paraphrase McCoy, "I know scriptwriters, they love to change things."

In this I agree. Kes and Gowron were too great as characters to be treated like they were and the whole change of ferengi society was stupid.

And unnecessary. Why do Ferengi have to be anything other than the greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls they are?

As for the book, I found it so unnecessary and cruel to come up with a story where Garak is "revealed" as a war criminal (which he never was according to DS9 "canon") and then use it as a reason to humiliate, destroy and finally kill off the character, a character who could have been a prominent person in more books!

Didn't read it, don't even know the title, so no judgment. Especially since I have killed characters when I felt their death would contribute more to the story than their continuing existence.
 
I've had that since TNG.
:eek:
And still you comment on a VOY forum?
I think aging is a curse but also that the effort to hold on to things past their time is a recipe for resentment.
To "hold on to the past" might be a life-saver in a run-down and dystopian world.

Better to resent than bow for the evil.

"Never surrender
When you're up against the wall
Never surrender
Stand up-fight them all!"

"Never Surrender"
Saxon

Without Jennifer Lien available, probably not.

As for Harry... they tried. They tried to add him to Prodigy, it got canceled. They tried to add him to Picard, his appearance was canceled. They tried to off-camera promote him by putting him on the wall of heroes... but that's been deleted. My hopes aren't high at this juncture.
No, there will most likely be no Kes in any future movie or series.
And I'm content with that. There would be very hard to replace Lien and if i know those in charge of Star Trek well, they would probably only detroy the character even more.
Most likely because of the times we're living in now and also because they don't dare to question the previous destruction of the character.

It should be possible to restore the character in books, but they don't seem to want to do it.

As for Harry, it still surprises me and actually angers me too that every attempt to restore the character and do away with the "loser" stamp which he has is met with so much resistance. I can't understand why?

Even if they have a conflict with actor Garret Wang, why spit on the character?

Sure it is. Your character has gone through hell, and now they're ready to live the good life. There's a reason why "may you live in interesting times" is considered a curse.
But it still doesn't make good episodes or books. :)

If you're not planning on continuing a character's story, it makes sense to leave them in a good place. Better than that travesty of an ending for Voyager, where they spent half the episode telling us what DIDN'T happen.
In that case it's better just to leave them, without killing them off or destroy them.
Then there still would be room for imagination, fan-fiction and good stories.

Nemesis is the movie that should have been deleted in favor of the DS9/VOY crossover.
Yes!
I could actually imagine a TNG/DS9/VOY crossover.

I was actually hoping for something like that after TNG and DS9 were cancelled and Voyager was on its last seasons. That could have been interesting.

Instead they just abandoned the exciting 24th century and came up with a lame series which messed up established Star Trek history.

And after that.........oh dear!:shrug:

To paraphrase McCoy, "I know scriptwriters, they love to change things."
That should be changed to "they love to mess up things".


And unnecessary. Why do Ferengi have to be anything other than the greedy, misogynistic, untrustworthy little trolls they are?
I agree on that too.
But fortunately, DS9 gave us Quark!
A great character who was much more than just a greedy troll. OK, he could be that from time to time but he also showed that he had a big heart and a sense of justice too.

Didn't read it, don't even know the title, so no judgment. Especially since I have killed characters when I felt their death would contribute more to the story than their continuing existence.
The book is called Second Self. I don't recommend it.

I actually discovered the content of the book while searching for more books by McCormack about Cardassia and Garak. I was actually very happy with the books The Never Ending Sacrifice and The Crimson Shadow.

When I found out about the content and wrote about it, I was criticized for not have read the book and that I only had Memory Beta as reference. By sheer "luck" (?) I found an used example in some bargain book store for a very decent price so I bought it and read it.

It was worse than expected.

Since it's against my principle to throw books in a trashcan, i simply went back to the shop and put it back where I found it, I didnt even bother to want teh money back.

garak could definitely have contributed a lot to many stories. Unfortunately he wasn't allowed to it.
 
To "hold on to the past" might be a life-saver in a run-down and dystopian world.

Better to resent than bow for the evil.

Indeed, yes. There are those everywhere who seek to punish people for not adopting their twisted or skewed philosophy. It's the only weapon they have: since they cannot defend their beliefs with logic, they defend them with abuse of power.

And I'm content with that. There would be very hard to replace Lien and if i know those in charge of Star Trek well, they would probably only detroy the character even more.

Like "that 6th season episode" on steroids. At least she was still the woman she was in "The Gift".

As for Harry, it still surprises me and actually angers me too that every attempt to restore the character and do away with the "loser" stamp which he has is met with so much resistance. I can't understand why?

Just Google "harry kim meme" or look at the Voyager 5-word story. People take pleasure in denigrating the character. It's become so self sustaining, any effort to salvage him seems to get shut down.

Even if they have a conflict with actor Garret Wang, why spit on the character?

I don't get the "poor dumb eternal ensign Harry Kim" crowd... and don't want to.

In that case it's better just to leave them, without killing them off or destroy them.
Then there still would be room for imagination, fan-fiction and good stories.

I kill off characters for several reasons...
1. They're expendable (most common).
2. It seems like the natural completion for their journey.
3. I see no happy ending for them (I would have bumped off Mullibok, for example).
4. Their death can be milked for emotional impact.
5. They're in the way (a third in a love triangle, for instance).


A great character who was much more than just a greedy troll. OK, he could be that from time to time but he also showed that he had a big heart and a sense of justice too.

That didn't mean they had to wreck his culture, any more than Klingons had to become peaceful, Romulans had to be trustworthy, or Bajorans had to become atheists.

garak could definitely have contributed a lot to many stories. Unfortunately he wasn't allowed to it.

At least Garak got to contribute during DS9's run. Characters like Harry and Travis Mayweather did not.
 
Sure. Star Trek is more than one or two disappointments.
Yes.

But you can't find me in the ENT, DSC and PIC forums.
I have had some not so pleasant debates in the general Star Trek Forum and Future Star Trek Forum but it's been a while now.
I doubt it. I've tried and it never helps.
It's still better than trying to adapt to what I might call "unpleasant times".
I rather listen to Rolling Stones or Iron Maiden than Taylor Swift.

But we all have dfifferent ways to cope with problems.

Indeed, yes. There are those everywhere who seek to punish people for not adopting their twisted or skewed philosophy. It's the only weapon they have: since they cannot defend their beliefs with logic, they defend them with abuse of power.
Yes.
And come up with personal attacks instead of debating the subject.
Like "that 6th season episode" on steroids. At least she was still the woman she was in "The Gift".
True.
But even The Gift was an abnormity which ruined the character.
If it was absolutely necessary to dump her (which I highly doubt), it would have been better if she had left with Zahir in Darkling.
Or Zajhir could have returned in season 4 and they could have left together. That had been much better than that energy-being mumbo jumbo.

Just Google "harry kim meme" or look at the Voyager 5-word story. People take pleasure in denigrating the character. It's become so self sustaining, any effort to salvage him seems to get shut down.
Yes, I've seen that and it immediately activated the "Wesley Crusher syndrome" in me.
Back in the days when I first watched TNG, I did find Wesley a bit annoying from time to time.
I didn't hate the character, it was more like a certain irritation over the "Wesley saves the day" or "Wesley screws up another experiment which cause damage on the ship" stuff.

But when i got Internet and read all the hatred aimed at the character on different forums, then I started to like him and defend him.

I was actually sad to see him go in season 4 when the character had becoming more interesting than in the previous seasons and actually angry over how he was ruined in Journey's End.

The same with Harry Kim. OK, I may have written some critical comments abou the character, especially about that "whipping boy" syndrome where Harry is constantly something of a loser, being beaten up or badly injured and close to death, a syndrome which actually happens even in the VOY books where Harry otherwise is better handled than in the episodes.

But in later years i've found the constant ridiculing of Harry Kim downright annoying.

Unfortunately, it seem to be one of the worst things with humans, to kick someone who's down.
Even Kes has been victim of that since she had the bad luck to be dumped from VOY.

I don't get the "poor dumb eternal ensign Harry Kim" crowd... and don't want to.
I also try to stay away from them because of what i've written above.

I kill off characters for several reasons...
1. They're expendable (most common).
2. It seems like the natural completion for their journey.
3. I see no happy ending for them (I would have bumped off Mullibok, for example).
4. Their death can be milked for emotional impact.
5. They're in the way (a third in a love triangle, for instance).
I guess I have a different way of writing. So far i haven't even killed off one of my main characters.

If and when I kill off a character, I have it planned from the beginning. If Ensign Jenkins is killed off in episode 3, then it is something I actually planned when I was writing episode 1.

It was an example, it hasn't happened yet but that's the way i would do.

i've actually done things the other way around. Once I wriote a story where the real villain was based on a real scumbag i met in real life, although worse in the story than in reality.

I was planning to kill him of but I decided to spare him. "He can be a great villain again in some story" I thought.

As for Mullibok, I would rather have made him a political activist, working against the government whic ruined his little paradise and finding pleasure in being among them who did ovetrhorw the government in a possible story.

That didn't mean they had to wreck his culture, any more than Klingons had to become peaceful, Romulans had to be trustworthy, or Bajorans had to become atheists.
In this I totally agree.

At least Garak got to contribute during DS9's run. Characters like Harry and Travis Mayweather did not.
Yes, he did. Therefore it annoyed me when he was killed off in a book for reasons which had nothing to do with his character in the series. Not to mention that he was made ridiculous as well.

As for Harry Kim and Travis mayweather, there might still be hope
 
But you can't find me in the ENT, DSC and PIC forums.
I have had some not so pleasant debates in the general Star Trek Forum and Future Star Trek Forum but it's been a while now.
I love debates. I learn from them.


It's still better than trying to adapt to what I might call "unpleasant times".
I rather listen to Rolling Stones or Iron Maiden than Taylor Swift.

But we all have dfifferent ways to cope with problems.
Adaptation is the fundamental facet of humanity.
 
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