Could Ro Laren Have Been Recast?

[JirinPanthosa]

Ro couldn't have been recast the same way Tora Ziyal was. Her performance was very distinctive.

They should have replaced her with a different new character when she didn't renew, and I wouldn't have wanted a 'Suspiciously similar substitute'. I'd would have rather had somebody who brings an outsider perspective in a different way.

 

[woodstock]

Creating Kira as a replacement for Ro in DS9 also showed that there were more than a couple Bajorans left after the Occupation. I like character continuity as much as the next person (example Sito Jaxa, also ironically a Bajoran), but if they went with Ro, my overriding thought would be "did so many Bajorans die that they couldn't find anyone else to help run the station?"

 

[RoJoHen]

I almost feel like her final arc on TNG would have had to change for her presence on DS9 to make sense.

I can't see Starfleet being okay with a deserter like Ro being in a position of power on the station. Though I wonder how the DS9 pilot would have gone. Surely she and Picard would have to have a scene or two together.

I think replacing Kira would Ro would have completely changed the dynamic of the show.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Given how great a character Kira turned into, I'd pick Kira over Ro. But it would have been a great dynamic to have both, or at least to have Kira meet Ro. If you think about it, one Bajoran who is very religious and nationalist (Or planetist) and spent the Occupation fighting for her planet's freedom, and another who is atheist and spent the Occupation far away from Bajor, as a Starfleet officer and behaving badly in that role, not giving a second thought to the home planet. There'd be some spectacular tension between the two and I have no doubt both actresses would be up to the task.

I'd love to have seen what happens when Ro looks into an orb.

 

[Terok Nor]

Was it ever explained how Ro managed to escape Bajor and the Occupation? Seems a bit bizarre Starfleet were accepting Bajorans into their ranks but doing nothing to stop the Cardassians raping their planet for decades.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Was it ever explained how Ro managed to escape Bajor and the Occupation? Seems a bit bizarre Starfleet were accepting Bajorans into their ranks but doing nothing to stop the Cardassians raping their planet for decades.

Why would they turn her down? I don't think accepting a Bajoran into Starfleet would be tied to stopping the Occupation.

 

[Terok Nor]

Was it ever explained how Ro managed to escape Bajor and the Occupation? Seems a bit bizarre Starfleet were accepting Bajorans into their ranks but doing nothing to stop the Cardassians raping their planet for decades.

Why would they turn her down? I don't think accepting a Bajoran into Starfleet would be tied to stopping the Occupation.

I'm not saying they would or should turn her down. I just found it odd they had Bajorans in Starfleet and did nothing to help free their planet from enslavement. Maybe I'm expecting too much of Starfleet

 

[Nerys Myk]

Was it ever explained how Ro managed to escape Bajor and the Occupation? Seems a bit bizarre Starfleet were accepting Bajorans into their ranks but doing nothing to stop the Cardassians raping their planet for decades.

Why would they turn her down? I don't think accepting a Bajoran into Starfleet would be tied to stopping the Occupation.

I'm not saying they would or should turn her down. I just found it odd they had Bajorans in Starfleet and did nothing to help free their planet from enslavement. Maybe I'm expecting too much of Starfleet

I still have to wonder why you'd expect a connection between Bajorans serving and Starfleet fighting to free Bajor. I'm sure modern militaries take refugees as recruits but aren't actively fighting the countries oppressing the refugee's homeland.

 

[Terok Nor]

Why would they turn her down? I don't think accepting a Bajoran into Starfleet would be tied to stopping the Occupation.

I'm not saying they would or should turn her down. I just found it odd they had Bajorans in Starfleet and did nothing to help free their planet from enslavement. Maybe I'm expecting too much of Starfleet

I still have to wonder why you'd expect a connection between Bajorans serving and Starfleet fighting to free Bajor. I'm sure modern militaries take refugees as recruits but aren't actively fighting the countries oppressing the refugee's homeland.

It doesn't seem like a particularly Starfleet thing to overlook. Seems like they'd try to do something to help the Bajorans given they were aware of the Occupation. I can't think of any other species in the Federation that had serving crewmembers whose planets were enslaved at the time. Also the fact the Federation and the Cardassians were hostile to each other anyway so Starfleet had nothing to lose by helping the Bajorans.

 

[2takesfrakes]

I like Ro Laren and I would have liked to see more episodes with her and that she had been a regular character in the last tree seasons.

But I would have find it weird to see any other actress in that role than Michelle Forbes. She really gave life to the character.

These words speak truly to me. Michelle Forbes was also the most beautiful and exciting woman to ever grace The Next Generation and her departure was a loss to the series.

 

[USS Triumphant]

It doesn't seem like a particularly Starfleet thing to overlook. Seems like they'd try to do something to help the Bajorans given they were aware of the Occupation. I can't think of any other species in the Federation that had serving crewmembers whose planets were enslaved at the time. Also the fact the Federation and the Cardassians were hostile to each other anyway so Starfleet had nothing to lose by helping the Bajorans.

Actually, that's exactly what they had to lose - the peace treaty from their previous war with the Cardassians. And who says they didn't try to do something to help, unofficially? The Maquis certainly had an unusually large number of Starfleet officers in it - including some fairly high ranked ones.

As for crewmembers whose planets are enslaved, well, it isn't enslaved exactly, but what about Tasha Yar? What about Gaila from ST:2009? (Admittedly, we don't know what effects the Narada may have butterflied into the politics of the Orions...)

 

[Nerys Myk]

I'm not saying they would or should turn her down. I just found it odd they had Bajorans in Starfleet and did nothing to help free their planet from enslavement. Maybe I'm expecting too much of Starfleet

I still have to wonder why you'd expect a connection between Bajorans serving and Starfleet fighting to free Bajor. I'm sure modern militaries take refugees as recruits but aren't actively fighting the countries oppressing the refugee's homeland.

It doesn't seem like a particularly Starfleet thing to overlook. Seems like they'd try to do something to help the Bajorans given they were aware of the Occupation. I can't think of any other species in the Federation that had serving crewmembers whose planets were enslaved at the time. Also the fact the Federation and the Cardassians were hostile to each other anyway so Starfleet had nothing to lose by helping the Bajorans.

Ro is just one person and the Enterprise is just one ship. We can't base Federation/Starfleet policy on them. It's possible the Federation is helping the Resistance through less obvious means than all out war with Cardassia. perhaps with advisors, supplies and other forms of aid. Also, IIRC, the Bajoran refugee camps are in Federation space, so that's a form of aid as well. Still wonder why Ro's joining Starfleet means Starfleet should be fighting Cardassia. No one at Starfleet command is going to propose that Starfleet attack Cardassian occupied Bajor as a thank you to Ro for joining Starfleet.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Helping the Bajorans would have been a prime directive issue. From a legal standpoint, Bajor was part of the Cardassian Empire at that point, and the Occupation would count as an internal Cardassian affair. The Federation couldn't have intervened without starting a war.

 

[USS Triumphant]

Helping the Bajorans would have been a prime directive issue. From a legal standpoint, Bajor was part of the Cardassian Empire at that point, and the Occupation would count as an internal Cardassian affair. The Federation couldn't have intervened without starting a war.

Depends on some of the legal details of the situation. Probably, you are correct, and part of the treaty at the end of the Federation's war with the Cardassians would have involved each side recognizing the territorial sovereignty of the other over all of their controlled space, BUT, maybe not, and the Federation might recognize Bajor in the same way that western nations recognize Taiwan - China claims Taiwan as part of itself, but so far, there's been no war between us and China over it, even when we've sold Taiwan weapons. I'd say this is even more likely if any of the worlds of the Federation had dealings with Bajor before the Cardassians occupied them.

 

[RoJoHen]

I'm not saying they would or should turn her down. I just found it odd they had Bajorans in Starfleet and did nothing to help free their planet from enslavement. Maybe I'm expecting too much of Starfleet

I still have to wonder why you'd expect a connection between Bajorans serving and Starfleet fighting to free Bajor. I'm sure modern militaries take refugees as recruits but aren't actively fighting the countries oppressing the refugee's homeland.

It doesn't seem like a particularly Starfleet thing to overlook. Seems like they'd try to do something to help the Bajorans given they were aware of the Occupation. I can't think of any other species in the Federation that had serving crewmembers whose planets were enslaved at the time. Also the fact the Federation and the Cardassians were hostile to each other anyway so Starfleet had nothing to lose by helping the Bajorans.

Neither Cardassia nor Bajor were members of the Federation, so it really wouldn't be their business to interfere.

 

[tharpdevenport]

This thread reminded me of the initial idea to have her in D.S.9. as a lead. I ahve to say: I never bought the actress as Kira. While I never really cared for Ro, I thin she could have seriously been expanded on D.S.9. and I certainly would have bought her as a toughened Bajoran against the Cardassians -- some back story was already established and I think she had the appropriate added "weight" for the role.

It would have hopefully eliminated the cheesy Odo romance and created more dynamic between the leads.

However, it would have been like a TNG take-over, if Worf still joined -- four characters. That would have been almost half the main cast.

 

[USS Triumphant]

However, it would have been like a TNG take-over, if Worf still joined -- four characters. That would have been almost half the main cast.

Worf, O'Brien, and Ro. I know I'm going to feel dumb, but who am I missing?

 

[tharpdevenport]

However, it would have been like a TNG take-over, if Worf still joined -- four characters. That would have been almost half the main cast.

Worf, O'Brien, and Ro. I know I'm going to feel dumb, but who am I missing?

Keiko O'Brien. I know he spent more time with Julian, but come on... ;-)

Damn, I missed one: their first daughter, Molly, born on TNG and played by the actress who played her on D.S.9., in one episode of TNG ("Rascals").

 

[USS Triumphant]

Well... I guess. If you regard Keiko as "main cast". May as well throw Alexander in there, too.

 

[DaddlerTheDalek]

I always wondered why Ro Laren didn't show up in any DS9 episodes.