"Remember"-shouldn't Kes had been the main character?

[Lynx]

I re-watched Remember yesterday. A great episode about a genocide which was covered up by the authorities on the planet.

B'Elanna Torres is the one who reveals the hidden secrets with some telepathic help from one of the Enarans.

But wouldn't Kes had been more receptive to the Enaran's telepathy? Wouldn't she had been the one who they would have contacted in the first place?

Imagine kes as the main character instead of B'Elanna. I think that would have worked fine too, maybe even better.

 

[Mage]

I never really liked the character of Kes that much, and not the biggest fan of Lien as an actress.
The only time she really impressed me on Voyager was in Warlord.
Having said that, there is a certain logic to your idea of Kes being more receptive, yes.

 

[Lynx]

The writers and producers claimed that they couldn't come up with stories for Kes.But here, when they had the opportunity to do so, they wasted it.


OK, Torres is great as the main character here but Torres was probably the least receptive to alien telepathy. So why they didn't use Kes in this episode was a mistake.

 

[BohandiAnsoid]

Or at least have Kes support B'anna through the episode. Kes and B'Elanna rarely interact but, when they do, it is almost always nice (in Seasons 1 - 3, that is...).

 

[AntonyF]

The writers and producers claimed that they couldn't come up with stories for Kes.But here, when they had the opportunity to do so, they wasted it.


OK, Torres is great as the main character here but Torres was probably the least receptive to alien telepathy. So why they didn't use Kes in this episode was a mistake.

In terms of the episode, I liked it as a B'Elanna episode. I think Kes was already sympathetic... her getting involved in this way would be entirely in character. For me it worked with B'Elanna as it was almost against character. Getting swept up in a romance (pre-Paris stuff), empathy for this race she didn't know... this was against the grain which made it more compelling. This was a situation that B'Elanna couldn't fight her way out of.

As to Kes and her stories... I suspect (and this is my guesswork, I have no proof) a lot of this 'we couldn't' come up with stories' for her was a bit of a smokescreen due to issues with Lien. At the time they tried to make out the decision was entirely creative. As time has gone on that's clearly not been the case. She wouldn't be the first or last where producers have tried to make out it was a creative decision when the actor was going through difficulties (see also Glenn Quinn from Angel, Michael O'Hare in B5 etc.)

 

[CorporalCaptain]

As to Kes and her stories... I suspect (and this is my guesswork, I have no proof) a lot of this 'we couldn't' come up with stories' for her was a bit of a smokescreen due to issues with Lien. At the time they tried to make out the decision was entirely creative. As time has gone on that's clearly not been the case. She wouldn't be the first or last where producers have tried to make out it was a creative decision when the actor was going through difficulties (see also Glenn Quinn from Angel, Michael O'Hare in B5 etc.)

Agreed.

I'll add that "We couldn't come up with stories for her" can be read as "We couldn't come up with stories for her", which alters the meaning by shifting the emphasis without changing a word, whatever the actual words were.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I re-watched Remember yesterday. A great episode about a genocide which was covered up by the authorities on the planet.

B'Elanna Torres is the one who reveals the hidden secrets with some telepathic help from one of the Enarans.

But wouldn't Kes had been more receptive to the Enaran's telepathy? Wouldn't she had been the one who they would have contacted in the first place?

Imagine kes as the main character instead of B'Elanna. I think that would have worked fine too, maybe even better.

Kes is a virgin.

She'd be traumatized by the alien romp we saw, that B'Elanna would have given a PG rating.

 

[Lynx]

Or at least have Kes support B'Elanna through the episode. Kes and B'Elanna rarely interact but, when they do, it is almost always nice (in Seasons 1 - 3, that is...).

I agree.
The Voyager book The Black Shore by Greg Cox has some good interaction between B'Elanna and Kes when it becomes to solving a problem on a mysterious planet. They end up in real trouble but manage to get out of it.

That book is a masterpiece, actually better than any Voyager episode, even than great episodes like Cold Fire and Persistence Of Vision.

In terms of the episode, I liked it as a B'Elanna episode. I think Kes was already sympathetic... her getting involved in this way would be entirely in character. For me it worked with B'Elanna as it was almost against character. Getting swept up in a romance (pre-Paris stuff), empathy for this race she didn't know... this was against the grain which made it more compelling. This was a situation that B'Elanna couldn't fight her way out of.

As to Kes and her stories... I suspect (and this is my guesswork, I have no proof) a lot of this 'we couldn't' come up with stories' for her was a bit of a smokescreen due to issues with Lien. At the time they tried to make out the decision was entirely creative. As time has gone on that's clearly not been the case. She wouldn't be the first or last where producers have tried to make out it was a creative decision when the actor was going through difficulties (see also Glenn Quinn from Angel, Michael O'Hare in B5 etc.)

I like it as a B'Elanna episode too. It's great.
But i think that it could have been even better and more appropriate with Kes as the one who got those Enaran "messages".

As for those "smokescreens" you are menitioning, as it is I don't believe in any of the three versions they have come up with since Lien was dumped. As the old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me", fool me three times.......no way.

Agreed.

I'll add that "We couldn't come up with stories for her" can be read as "We couldn't come up with stories for her", which alters the meaning by shifting the emphasis without changing a word, whatever the actual words were.

There are many ways to interpret that sentence.

It could be interpreted as "We couldn't come up with stories for her because we didn't bother to come up with stories about her, even when we had the chance to do it, like in this case".

Or "We couldn't come up with stories about her because all of a sudden we were ordered to not be able to come up with stories about her".

Anyway, it wasn't my intention to star another debate about Kes was dumped or not and I have watched Remember many times during the years without even thinking about how it could have been with Kes as the main character due to her psychical abilities instead of B'Elanna. It just happened recently when I all of a sudden started to think "What if.........".