Ro Laren

[DS9Continuing]

Actually now that I think about it, I'm not sure Ro would have worked on VOY, because frankly I don't think she would have stayed on the ship. She seems to have a history of not staying in one place for too long. I don't think she would have betrayed Voyager like Seska, but I think that sooner or later--maybe after word of the Maquis' destruction reached her and there didn't seem to be anything to go home to--she would have set out on her own.

Then again, Janeway might have inspired the same kind of loyalty in her that she did in B'Lanna. She might have made a home for herself on Voyager. But I don't know--Picard tried to reform her once and didn't succeed. Maybe Ro and Starfleet just don't mix.

In that way, Ro strikes me more like the Tom Paris character - unhappy with the way life turned out, trying to find something else, not sure what that might be, finds a home for herself on Voyager.

It's always mildly disappointing to me that all the main ex-Maquis characters on Voyager - Chakotay, Paris, Torres - were all ex-Starfleet before they were Maquis. It makes their perspectives all feel a bit homogenous. A bit of variety there would have been nicer.

And in some ways, Ro would have fit perfectly on DS9 - it was always a place where people who were outcasts from their societies found a new home. But at the same time I think the DS9-R over-egged Ro's anti-Bajoran-ness a little more than it had been on TNG, basically as a way of creating conflict with Kira.

Maybe that could have been Ro's character arc - the opposite of Kira's. Kira started off distrusting the Federation and very much all-Bajoran, but she came to appreciate the Federation more and symbolised all of Bajor joining the Federation. Ro could have moved in the opposite direction - a non-Bajoran Bajoran who was on Starfleet's side at first, but being forced to return to the home she left might have reactivated her Bajoran-ness and made her question Starfleet more.

.

 

[JustKate]

Paris wasn't ex-Maquis. He was a Starfleet screwup.

I thought Seska was a great character. Sooner or later she was going to leave the ship - she was just too much of a malcontent, even without the Cardassian angle - but I just wish it had been a little later.

But to drag myself back on topic, Ro would have been great on DS9 or Voyager. Actually, I think having both her and Kira on DS9 would have been fascinating - the Starfleet Bajoran clashing with the Resistance Bajoran. That I would have liked to have seen, even for just one or two episodes.

Edit: I take back what I said about Tom Paris. I have no recollection that he had been Maquis, but that's what Memory Alpha says, and its memory is almost certainly better than mine.

 

[IntrepidMan]

^Yep, he was Ex-Maquis and Ex-Starfleet, basically a screw-up at both. Janeway recruited him, in part, because of his past dealings with the Maquis.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

Ro Laren could have been great as Janeway's XO....but would the writers have ended up just writing her as a damp squid like Chakotay who hardly ever challenges the captain? Maybe...but then they might also have been more comfortable having her openly question Janeway's decisions since she was a woman, just like they were comfortable having Seven of Nine do it later on.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

Does anyone know if there is any truth to the rumour that Voyager tried to get Michelle Forbes to play Ro in place of Chakotay?

I think that they were thinking about doing an episode guest starring Michelle Forbes as Ro (or some outside writer pitched that idea) but there were never plans to have her replace Chakotay.

 

[The Dominion]

Ro Laren could have been great as Janeway's XO....but would the writers have ended up just writing her as a damp squid like Chakotay who hardly ever challenges the captain? Maybe...but then they might also have been more comfortable having her openly question Janeway's decisions since she was a woman, just like they were comfortable having Seven of Nine do it later on.

That is what makes me glad she didn't end up in Voyager, to be honest. I loved Ro but have no faith that Voyager's writers would do anything worthwhile with the character. If anything, they would probably have made me hate her.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Ro Laren could have been great as Janeway's XO....but would the writers have ended up just writing her as a damp squid like Chakotay who hardly ever challenges the captain? Maybe...but then they might also have been more comfortable having her openly question Janeway's decisions since she was a woman, just like they were comfortable having Seven of Nine do it later on.

The slash would have exploded the universe.

I don't think they would have written her "damp squid" like Chak, she was an already established character with loads of personality.

 

[IntrepidMan]

Ro Laren could have been great as Janeway's XO....but would the writers have ended up just writing her as a damp squid like Chakotay who hardly ever challenges the captain? Maybe...but then they might also have been more comfortable having her openly question Janeway's decisions since she was a woman, just like they were comfortable having Seven of Nine do it later on.

Completely agree.

That is what makes me glad she didn't end up in Voyager, to be honest. I loved Ro but have no faith that Voyager's writers would do anything worthwhile with the character. If anything, they would probably have made me hate her.

It depends on whether the VOY writers would have liked her or not. If they liked her, she would have received the same level of attention and character development as The Doctor or Seven of Nine. If not, she would have been mostly ignored and forgotten, like Harry Kim or Chakotay. Since VOY has a history of strong female characters, my gut tells me she would have received a lot more attention from the writers--at least more than Chakotay ever did.

 

[Worf'sParmach]

The slash would have exploded the universe.

 

[You_Will_Fail]

LOL I meant damp squib btw guys, I know the saying is not "damp squid"

 

[Ro_Laren]

I wish that Ro would have at least done one DS9 episde so that we could see what happened to her... Or perhaps she could have done a Voyager episode (in a flashback of one of the ex-Maquis crew members).