Seven hasn't changed that much

[Lord Garth]

I watched "One" (VOY) last night. For those who need a refresher: Voyager encounters a giant nebula that would take years to travel around, so they have to go through it, except it would have harmful effects on the crew, except for Seven and The Doctor. So Voyager has to spend a month travelling through this nebula with everyone but Seven and The Doctor in stasis.

Seven of Nine is mostly alone, except for The Doctor, who she gets fed up with. Seven, despite seeming more socially inept, still has the same general personality she has in PIC. Strong-willed, not willing to deal with people's nonsense, doesn't want to waste time on things that aren't important, but will still ultimately do what needs to be done.

I'm actually kind of amazed her character is more the same than not. Just from this "One" episode (), I can see the Seven of Nine who would become part of the Fenris Rangers. Where over there, she's willing to do what needs to be done when no one else is doing it or can do it.

She must be attracted to Raffi because she has a similar strong will. Except Seven is more stable and headstrong, so she can be there to help Raffi when she falters, like after Elnor died. Seven has also probably helped her from relapsing back into drugs.

When Seven is looking for a date in "Someone to Watch Over Me" or is with Chakotay at the end of VOY, they're people who couldn't possibly be more cardboard. There's nothing there for Seven other than, "I'm doing what's expected of me and getting into a relationship!" and that's pretty much it. And because it was more like an exercise instead of something genuine, neither of those relationships worked out or lasted. Now we get to see Seven in a relationship that works for her, more or less, even if Raffi wants to be around her more.

One of the things I wish Season 2 mentioned but didn't was that Seven could help Raffi cope with grief about losing her surrogate son Elnor, because she has to cope with grief about losing her surrogate son Icheb. Obvious parallel and a missed opportunity.

 

[Danja]

When Seven is looking for a date in "Someone to Watch Over Me" or is with Chakotay at the end of VOY, they're people who couldn't possibly be more cardboard. There's nothing there for Seven other than, "I'm doing what's expected of me and getting into a relationship!" and that's pretty much it. And because it was more like an exercise instead of something genuine, neither of those relationships worked out or lasted.

That had to be exasperating for Seven.

 

[Deks]

When Seven is looking for a date in "Someone to Watch Over Me" or is with Chakotay at the end of VOY, they're people who couldn't possibly be more cardboard. There's nothing there for Seven other than, "I'm doing what's expected of me and getting into a relationship!" and that's pretty much it. And because it was more like an exercise instead of something genuine, neither of those relationships worked out or lasted. Now we get to see Seven in a relationship that works for her, more or less, even if Raffi wants to be around her more.

One of the things I wish Season 2 mentioned but didn't was that Seven could help Raffi cope with grief about losing her surrogate son Elnor, because she has to cope with grief about losing her surrogate son Icheb. Obvious parallel and a missed opportunity.

In 'Someone to Watch over me', Seven was mainly doing what was expected of her and she was being pushed into social actions by the Doctor who was coaching her.

However, I would say since 'Unimatrix Zero', her curiosity for pursuing an intimate relationship with someone surfaced on a more genuine level (without external coaxing from the Doctor).
Past this point, I would say that Seven was genuinely interested in pursuing a relationship (or at least experimenting like she did in 'Human Error'), but because VOY is a small ship, she had a limited number of options to pursue... and Chakotay was indeed good looking and a good candidate (more of a continuation of her holodeck experiment which seemed like a good idea)... but I agree that long term, the relationship didn't necessarily have enough to go on after VOY returned early from the DQ (otherwise, she'd remain with Chakotay like she had in an alternate timeline from which future Admiral Janeway came from).

At any rate, given Seven's personality, etc. by being in a different environment (as opposed on board VOY) it probably allowed her to retain a large portion of her sense of independence.
Nothing says that she wasn't similar in the alternate timeline in which she was with Chakotay in a marriage, but from Edngame onward, the situation was fundamentally different because she was no longer 'confined' to the ship itself and it would have affected her (and Chakotay's) choices.

 

[PicardHitbyTesla]

She doesn't talk the same anymore.


In PIC she just talks like Jeri Ryan.


In VOY she had really great sevenisms.

Not sure if your heart could handle this seven

I assure you my cardiovascular system is up to the task.

 

[Tuskin38]

She doesn't talk the same anymore.

It's been 20 years, of course not. She's finally embraced her Humanity.

However there are acouple scenes in Season 1 and 2 where she sounds like old Seven.

 

[Danja]

She drops back into the Voyager monotone when she's angry, irritated, or outraged (You hear it at the end of "Stargazer" when she's yelling at Picard).

 

[Tuskin38]

Also her first line in Season 1 Episode 4 she says 'I'm functional'.

 

[Dar70]

I have zero issues with the way Seven has grown since Voyager. We saw her change immensely over her 4 years with Voyager so it's expected after 20 more years she would now be more Anika than Borg.

 

[Timofnine]

She doesn't talk the same anymore.


In PIC she just talks like Jeri Ryan.


In VOY she had really great sevenisms.

Not sure if your heart could handle this seven

I assure you my cardiovascular system is up to the task.

This is all kind of true, Seven could have easily changed over the years but the character is now definitely quite different from what she was in Voyager. Seven is more like a generic ‘gung-ho’ Sarah Connor kind of heroine in Picard who drops a few witty tongue in cheek lines and a bit of dry humour every now and again, she also kind of ‘huffs’ and ‘scoffs’ at people a lot too if that makes sense. Where has her interest in astrophysics and science gone, her expansive knowledge and inquisitiveness? The writers could say that this was intentional, or perhaps they just do not know how to *really* write for the character. But, like I said, character’s *do* change, especially over 20 years. It’s just like Seven can’t really be ‘bothered’ anymore. There were the massive missed opportunities of Seven interacting with the Borg Queen for example, following on from their very deep and dark ‘Dark Frontier’ interactions. The Picard writers seemed to develop everything around Seven but not *really* develop Seven herself if that makes sense, for example killing Hugh and Icheb. Even Seven’s relationship with Raffi was standard soap opera fair. Any actual development was two dimensional, such as her field commission to Captain/Commander. Picard so far has not really fleshed her out ‘three dimensionally’.

As for actual *real* character development, maybe they have been told to save that for the spin-off after giving her permanent Captaincy of the Enterprise F (hehe ). Being ‘back’ in Starfleet and the Captain of the Federation flagship might make her act a bit more professionally and bring a more ‘familiar’ character back. I wonder how the Enterprise E got destroyed though? Perhaps we will find out in Picard season 3. It’s a niggling loose end which could frustrate many fans if they don’t explain it, but hopefully she is just in a museum somewhere now.

I hope that Seven does start speaking a bit more like Seven again though.

 

[Tuskin38]

I hope that Seven does start speaking a bit more like Seven again though.

She's not that person anymore.

 

[Timofnine]

She's not that person anymore.

Nope, she is not that person anymore. Things happened in her life after Voyager to make her almost give up and make do with each day at a time… obviously she spent time with the Fenris Rangers and found a cause and purpose there a bit like how Tom Paris and Chakotay found the Maquis, also when Seven met Raffi, but like I said… it’s like she can not be ‘bothered’ anymore. Seven’s speech would also have changed as a result of being around different people in a less formal environment, a bit like childhood language acquisition. If Seven would have stayed in Starfleet I am sure that she would have kept her more formal tone and delivery of speech as a result of remaining in such an environment after her time on Voyager.

Hopefully Starfleet will reinvigorate Seven again and renew her interest in the sciences. She will need to adapt a more formal tone whilst talking to her crew in order to deliver a sense of ‘authority’ when on duty, or if she is negotiating on a diplomatic mission. Though when Seven speaks to friends and is off duty she might be a bit more light hearted and casual with the way that she talks, much like she speaks in Picard season 2. Seven needs a ‘commanding’ voice, and most definitely should not ‘scoff’, ‘tut’ and roll her eyes at her crew if she is annoyed with them.

 

[Danja]

This is all kind of true, Seven could have easily changed over the years but the character is now definitely quite different from what she was in Voyager. Seven is more like a generic ‘gung-ho’ Sarah Connor kind of heroine in Picard who drops a few witty tongue in cheek lines and a bit of dry humour every now and again, she also kind of ‘huffs’ and ‘scoffs’ at people a lot too if that makes sense.

She was like that in Voyager too:

EMH: "You're a woman, Seven."
Seven: "Is that an observation or a diagnosis? "

Where has her interest in astrophysics and science gone, her expansive knowledge and inquisitiveness?

She and Raffi spent Season 2 running for dear life!

It was neither the time nor the place to be collecting lichen samples.

There were the massive missed opportunities of Seven interacting with the Borg Queen for example, following on from their very deep and dark ‘Dark Frontier’ interactions.

She knew EXACTLY what the Borg Queen was capable of (In "Stargazer," she kept yelling at Picard to KILL her!)

The Picard writers seemed to develop everything around Seven but not *really* develop Seven herself if that makes sense, for example killing Hugh and Icheb. Even Seven’s relationship with Raffi was standard soap opera fair. Any actual development was two dimensional, such as her field commission to Captain/Commander. Picard so far has not really fleshed her out ‘three dimensionally’.

The show is called Star Trek: PICARD.

I hope that Seven does start speaking a bit more like Seven again though.

She drops back into the Voyager monotone when she's angry or frustrated (it came out at the end of "Stargazer" when she was yelling at Picard).

 

[Timofnine]

She was like that in Voyager too:

EMH: "You're a woman, Seven."
Seven: "Is that an observation or a diagnosis? "

Spock sometimes replied in a dry ‘matter of fact’ way too. I think that Seven actually picked this form of wit up from the EMH.

She and Raffi spent Season 2 running for dear life!

It was neither the time nor the place to be collecting lichen samples.

True, we were not seeing Seven as herself in a professional Starfleet environment. She was ‘lost’ as a character and on the run as you say.

She knew EXACTLY what the Borg Queen was capable of (In "Stargazer," she kept yelling at Picard to KILL her!)

That is a basic primal reaction expressed verbally as a result of facing a dangerous enemy, any character could have said these lines and nothing would have been lost or gained from the plot. The two characters had no substantial interaction. The Borg Queen/Seven character arc and dynamics were not expanded on or explored in any way. This could have been intentional though to save such interactions for a potential spin-off.

The show is called Star Trek: PICARD.

Yes, which is why Seven needs a spin-off.
All characters in an ensemble series should be developed properly to some extent though, even in Picard.

She drops back into the Voyager monotone when she's angry or frustrated (it came out at the end of "Stargazer" when she was yelling at Picard).

Seven may revert back to her Voyager speech patterns when she is under stress or dealing with serious situations... dropping her personal internal walls and barriers so that she can deal with the problem at hand as *our* Seven of Nine that we know and love from Voyager. The way Seven speaks in Picard (so far) could be a result of her trying to be a different person, not who she was on Voyager or as a part of the Collective in the past, she might start to accept these things though - she has had a lot of mental trauma and I think that it shows. If Seven ever found a new ‘collective’ and/or purpose she may feel comfortable in herself again? I would not call her speech pattern monotone either, it sounds great and was a part of her character… as a Commander or Captain it would add to her air of authority as I have previously mentioned. It *could* be a bit more subtle and blended with her natural speech pattern from Picard though, changing depending on the situation that Seven is facing.

 

[fireproof78]

All characters in an ensemble series should be developed properly to some extent though, even in Picard.

Except it's not an ensemble piece. It's a main character piece, with characters intersecting with the main character in different ways. Development is not guaranteed for anyone but the main character.

 

[Timofnine]

Except it's not an ensemble piece. It's a main character piece, with characters intersecting with the main character in different ways. Development is not guaranteed for anyone but the main character.

Then she needs a spin-off, an ensemble show like the good old days. They would need to make it a bit like Strange New World’s in style though mixed with TNG, DS9 and VOY.

 

[fireproof78]

Then she needs a spin-off, an ensemble show like the good old days. They would need to make it a bit like Strange New World’s in style though mixed with TNG, DS9 and VOY.

Maybe, maybe not.

 

[Timofnine]

Maybe, maybe not.

It would have to be *slightly* more serious in tone than Strange New World’s though which has far too many comedy episodes. We need to take Seven more seriously than Pike who tends to clown around a bit too much. I meant more the SNW episodic format with minor threads which dangle between episodes. Two part episodes are cool though, as are recurring characters.

 

[fireproof78]

It would have to be *slightly* more serious in tone than Strange New World’s though which has far too many comedy episodes. We need to take Seven more seriously than Pike who tends to clown around a bit too much. I meant more the SNW episodic format with minor threads which dangle between episodes. Two part episodes are cool though, as are recurring characters.

I mean, I would hope it would have an entirely different tone from SNW. Just because SNW is successful does not make it the only way.

 

[Timofnine]

SNW is like if TOS was made today. Seven can be like if Berman Trek was made today, but not like The Orville.

 

[Danja]

I'd like a Seven show to be a little bit more military (something along the lines of SEAL Team, The Unit, or The Hunt for Red October).

Seven is much more hardcore than Picard or Janeway. She's much more of a stickler for discipline, spit, and polish.