Essential Kes Episodes

[BirdInJetstream]

There was sort of an attempt to develop Kes' mental abilities. We see her a couple of times being educated by Tuvok in the arts of mental control. It could have been interesting if she had become a telepath. And although this might be very controversial due to her short life span and the little life experience she has, but I think she could have been something like a counsellor for the crew. She has proven many times that she is very empathic and has shown great insight in how other people's minds and their social interactions work.
I am racking my brain for examples. I have to admit, the only thing coming to my mind right now is, that she counselled the Doctor a couple of times. And she did interfere on the behalf of others.

 

[exodus]

It looks like others may have beat me to it but making her choose to be a glorified nurse pretty much pidgeon holed her character. She was the Doc's assistant. That's it. That pretty much means she doesn't get to join in the main discussions in the conference room or become essential for away team duty. (she did manage to find her way onto some) They needed to have something that made her character important or valuable to the ship.

QFT

 

[The Overlord]

The problem with Kes is most of the episodes with Kes are about things that happened to Kes through the course of the episode, rather then episodes that are about making her tick. The Kes had a lot of potential, if she was kept on the ship she could have been a great character, she just needed a little more development. This video is a good character study on Kes:

http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/a-look-at-kes-5381557

It would have better to get rid of Harry or Neelix instead of Kes.

I agree with your assessment of Kes. All the time she was on the ship, you never knew what she wanted out of life. Every little girl or boy dreams of growing up to become something. If Kes didn't meet the EMH and become a nurse, what did she want be in life? Besides the sun, whatelse did she want to see? We never even learned what the gold head statue in her quarters was?


I don't know if getting rid of Harry or Neelix would have improved Kes. They didnt do much development of her before she left and they didn't develop Harry or Neelix much the whole series. If nobody else but Janeway, the EMH & Seven were used to full potential, what chance would a character like Kes have regardless of who left the show? If they didn't develop Kes in the first 3 season, they weren't going to bother after Seven joined. It's obvious they never thought much of what to do with Kes beyond "Caretaker". That's what ruined her IMO, the fact they never thought of what direction they wanted to take her in.

Yeah, but the thing is the producers seemed intent on getting rid of someone to make way for Seven. There were more stories you tell with Kes then you could with Neelix and especially Harry. If they felt they had to get rid of someone to make way for seven, Harry or Neelix are better choices then Kes.

 

[exodus]

The problem with Kes is most of the episodes with Kes are about things that happened to Kes through the course of the episode, rather then episodes that are about making her tick. The Kes had a lot of potential, if she was kept on the ship she could have been a great character, she just needed a little more development. This video is a good character study on Kes:

http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/a-look-at-kes-5381557

It would have better to get rid of Harry or Neelix instead of Kes.

I agree with your assessment of Kes. All the time she was on the ship, you never knew what she wanted out of life. Every little girl or boy dreams of growing up to become something. If Kes didn't meet the EMH and become a nurse, what did she want be in life? Besides the sun, whatelse did she want to see? We never even learned what the gold head statue in her quarters was?


I don't know if getting rid of Harry or Neelix would have improved Kes. They didnt do much development of her before she left and they didn't develop Harry or Neelix much the whole series. If nobody else but Janeway, the EMH & Seven were used to full potential, what chance would a character like Kes have regardless of who left the show? If they didn't develop Kes in the first 3 season, they weren't going to bother after Seven joined. It's obvious they never thought much of what to do with Kes beyond "Caretaker". That's what ruined her IMO, the fact they never thought of what direction they wanted to take her in.

Yeah, but the thing is the producers seemed intent on getting rid of someone to make way for Seven. There were more stories you tell with Kes then you could with Neelix and especially Harry. If they felt they had to get rid of someone to make way for seven, Harry or Neelix are better choices then Kes.

I think it's obvious they didn't agree.
Plus again, if they weren't writing stories for Tuvok, Neelix, Harry, Tom, B'Elanna or Chakotay after Seven joined, what chance did Kes have getting more stories told about her? If they weren't writing many great stories for her before Seven, where was the implication she'd get stories about her after? Regardless of who they kept or who they cut, this was still going to be a factor. Beltran is correct, it's a waste of an actors time and talent to show up everyday if your not going to get to act.

 

[lurok]

In Worst Case Scenario, I swear Kes doesn't even utter a word. That was a good paycheck day.

 

[Alpha Flyer]

Agree with Out of Time's assessment that Kes' problem as a character was the ghettoization in Sickbay, essentially as a glorified Nurse Ogawa. The surprise on Janeway's face the one or two times she shows up on the bridge says it all...

In terms of good character moments, "Cold Fire" shows the beginning of her potential, as well as its possible dark side, and should really have been explored more. I also liked "Warlord", when she emancipates herself from Neelix (Lien's acting as the evil tyrant with the pixie face was cool) and "Darkling", when she falls for that alien vagabond type. "Before and After" is the obvious one.

But since NCC-1701 was looking for little Kes moments as well as major episodes -- "Parturition" is a nice one, when she deals with Neelix' jealousy and his fight with Tom; as is Investigations when she says goodbye as Tom heads out on his suicide mission. It's only a few seconds, but Lien packs in a fair bit of friendship wallop into her hug, without saying a word.

I disagree, though, with the posters who said Tom Paris' character stopped being interesting after Season 3, and that the Doc was the only one who got an arc in the series. Yes, Season 4 -- thanks no doubt to the arrival of 7/9 -- was a lull for Tom apart from the P/T relationship. Although in "Vis a Vis" he goes through an interesting bout of I've-stopped-being-a-bad-boy-now-what? depression. And then we have Season 5, with "Thirty Days," "Bride of Chaotica!" and "Gravity," and the post-demotion aftermath through Season 6 when he claws himself back up the rank ladder with some solid officer work and good leadership displays. It was Tom, not Harry, who designed and built the Delta Flyer, and Tom who took over the mission Chakotay botched in "One Small Step". He becomes a husband and a father in Season 7 ... all that from starting out as a Starfleet reject/convict with a chip on his shoulder. If that's not a character arc, I don't know what is.

 

[exodus]

Agree with Out of Time's assessment that Kes' problem as a character was the ghettoization in Sickbay, essentially as a glorified Nurse Ogawa. The surprise on Janeway's face the one or two times she shows up on the bridge says it all...

In terms of good character moments, "Cold Fire" shows the beginning of her potential, as well as its possible dark side, and should really have been explored more. I also liked "Warlord", when she emancipates herself from Neelix (Lien's acting as the evil tyrant with the pixie face was cool) and "Darkling", when she falls for that alien vagabond type. "Before and After" is the obvious one.

But since NCC-1701 was looking for little Kes moments as well as major episodes -- "Parturition" is a nice one, when she deals with Neelix' jealousy and his fight with Tom; as is Investigations when she says goodbye as Tom heads out on his suicide mission. It's only a few seconds, but Lien packs in a fair bit of friendship wallop into her hug, without saying a word.

I disagree, though, with the posters who said Tom Paris' character stopped being interesting after Season 3, and that the Doc was the only one who got an arc in the series. Yes, Season 4 -- thanks no doubt to the arrival of 7/9 -- was a lull for Tom apart from the P/T relationship. Although in "Vis a Vis" he goes through an interesting bout of I've-stopped-being-a-bad-boy-now-what? depression. And then we have Season 5, with "Thirty Days," "Bride of Chaotica!" and "Gravity," and the post-demotion aftermath through Season 6 when he claws himself back up the rank ladder with some solid officer work and good leadership displays. It was Tom, not Harry, who designed and built the Delta Flyer, and Tom who took over the mission Chakotay botched in "One Small Step". He becomes a husband and a father in Season 7 ... all that from starting out as a Starfleet reject/convict with a chip on his shoulder. If that's not a character arc, I don't know what is.

I agree with you about Tom except for the Delta Flyer.
Tom designed it but he's not an Engineer, I'm not sure how much hands on work he did in an area he's got no experience in, other than supervisor. Harry's the junior Engineer, he took Tom's idea by taking Tom's designs and brought them to life by physically building it.

 

[Alpha Flyer]

Agree with Out of Time's assessment that Kes' problem as a character was the ghettoization in Sickbay, essentially as a glorified Nurse Ogawa. The surprise on Janeway's face the one or two times she shows up on the bridge says it all...

In terms of good character moments, "Cold Fire" shows the beginning of her potential, as well as its possible dark side, and should really have been explored more. I also liked "Warlord", when she emancipates herself from Neelix (Lien's acting as the evil tyrant with the pixie face was cool) and "Darkling", when she falls for that alien vagabond type. "Before and After" is the obvious one.

But since NCC-1701 was looking for little Kes moments as well as major episodes -- "Parturition" is a nice one, when she deals with Neelix' jealousy and his fight with Tom; as is Investigations when she says goodbye as Tom heads out on his suicide mission. It's only a few seconds, but Lien packs in a fair bit of friendship wallop into her hug, without saying a word.

I disagree, though, with the posters who said Tom Paris' character stopped being interesting after Season 3, and that the Doc was the only one who got an arc in the series. Yes, Season 4 -- thanks no doubt to the arrival of 7/9 -- was a lull for Tom apart from the P/T relationship. Although in "Vis a Vis" he goes through an interesting bout of I've-stopped-being-a-bad-boy-now-what? depression. And then we have Season 5, with "Thirty Days," "Bride of Chaotica!" and "Gravity," and the post-demotion aftermath through Season 6 when he claws himself back up the rank ladder with some solid officer work and good leadership displays. It was Tom, not Harry, who designed and built the Delta Flyer, and Tom who took over the mission Chakotay botched in "One Small Step". He becomes a husband and a father in Season 7 ... all that from starting out as a Starfleet reject/convict with a chip on his shoulder. If that's not a character arc, I don't know what is.

I agree with you about Tom except for the Delta Flyer.
Tom designed it but he's not an Engineer, I'm not sure how much hands on work he did in an area he's got no experience in, other than supervisor. Harry's the junior Engineer, he took Tom's idea by taking Tom's designs and brought them to life by physically building it.

\

Well, B'Elanna hands a PADD with the thruster specs to Tom in his quarters ... kinda suggests he's pulling it all together. I guess I'll have to rewatch the episode to be sure. It's been a while.