Seven of Nine

[exodus]

That's not quite true.
When B&B originally decided to have an ex-Borg on the show (stated rationale for their decision: 'Hey, why not!'), it was intended for the character to be male. It was only when Jennifer Lien chose to leave that they re-considered the role as female, to keep the gender balance of the series in place.

I thought Jennifer Lien was fired, although they did intend to fire Garret Wang, but changed their minds when he was voted one of People Magazine's most eligible bachelors, or something like that. Perhaps if Want had gotten the boot, Seven would have been a male? This is the first I ever heard that.

Supposedly it's true.

Voyager needed to retain an audience. Having a nobody at the time like Wang make PEOPLE means that due to his looks, people took notice. You couldn't fire somebody that had the potential to bring in an audience.

Keeping Wang & adding Seven as female is a one/two punch by having two sex symbols on a show.

 

[kissthestar]

I feel Ryan brought subtlety and style to the role.

 

[Gary7]

I didn't like Seven in the last season either. Suddenly she had become some expert on human nature, which was something I personally didn't find very convincing.

I thought she was alright in the last season, but not as good as in earlier seasons. But yes, her "social" evolution was a bit uneven. While she seemed to improve in her ability to relate to the crew on a human level, she was still lacking. And so her "expertise" was not convincing, as you pointed out.


Otherwise, she was a great addition and brought a lot of material to bear. The show would have died off sooner if it hadn't been for Seven, IMHO. The only thing is... the catsuit was a bit over the top. Don't get me wrong, I certainly didn't mind seeing someone as attractive as Jeri Ryan in that outfit, but to me it didn't follow a natural evolution for her human clothing. I would have preferred to see something more realistic and practical, rather than an obvious ploy at eye candy.

 

[The Badger]

That's not quite true.
When B&B originally decided to have an ex-Borg on the show (stated rationale for their decision: 'Hey, why not!'), it was intended for the character to be male. It was only when Jennifer Lien chose to leave that they re-considered the role as female, to keep the gender balance of the series in place.

I thought Jennifer Lien was fired, although they did intend to fire Garret Wang, but changed their minds when he was voted one of People Magazine's most eligible bachelors, or something like that. Perhaps if Want had gotten the boot, Seven would have been a male? This is the first I ever heard that.

I've just been checking around, and it appears that is indeed why Lien left. I always thought that she had chosen to leave the show herself, partly because of problems with the make up, and partly because she didn't like the way the character was written. Having her booted out just because the writers thought it would be 'cool' to have a Borg on board seems a bit callous.
So 7of9 was originally conceived of as a male character, with Garret Wang getting the bullet. But People Magazine spoke, proclaiming Wang as a god amongst men, so his future was assured. And poor Jennifer got booted out in his stead.
Personally, I'd have been much happier to have had both Kes and (female) 7of9 in the series. I'll admit that's partly because I think they were both hot, but I also think there could be some interesting character interaction. Both have a curiosity about the universe around them, but they approach it in a very different manner.

 

[exodus]

That's not quite true.
When B&B originally decided to have an ex-Borg on the show (stated rationale for their decision: 'Hey, why not!'), it was intended for the character to be male. It was only when Jennifer Lien chose to leave that they re-considered the role as female, to keep the gender balance of the series in place.

I thought Jennifer Lien was fired, although they did intend to fire Garret Wang, but changed their minds when he was voted one of People Magazine's most eligible bachelors, or something like that. Perhaps if Want had gotten the boot, Seven would have been a male? This is the first I ever heard that.

I've just been checking around, and it appears that is indeed why Lien left. I always thought that she had chosen to leave the show herself, partly because of problems with the make up, and partly because she didn't like the way the character was written. Having her booted out just because the writers thought it would be 'cool' to have a Borg on board seems a bit callous.
So 7of9 was originally conceived of as a male character, with Garret Wang getting the bullet. But People Magazine spoke, proclaiming Wang as a god amongst men, so his future was assured. And poor Jennifer got booted out in his stead.
Personally, I'd have been much happier to have had both Kes and (female) 7of9 in the series. I'll admit that's partly because I think they were both hot, but I also think there could be some interesting character interaction. Both have a curiosity about the universe around them, but they approach it in a very different manner.

According to the writers, they felt they wrote the character Kes into a corner. They didn't feel as if they could do much more with her, so they felt is was easier to let her go than to keep her hanging on. They did they that with Beltran and look how pissed he was about it. At least by letting Lien go, she as an actress was then allowed to persue other bigger better roles if she chose too. If she sayed, it's a good possability she would have been stuck in a role they weren't going to write much for and that also would be unfair to her as well. It would be a waste of her talent & time.

 

[neogothboy74]

I'm not as familiar with Voyager as some of my other Treks, but I really liked 7of9; by the end of the series she was my favorite character. I do remember really having a hard time accepting the Chakotay / Seven romance. I usually like relationship storylines, but that one just hurt my head; it just felt wrong somehow.

 

[Praetor]

To you and to most of the people who are familiar with 'Voyager,' my friend.

 

[neogothboy74]

To you and to the people who are familiar with 'Voyager,' my friend.

I like your avatar gif thingy. David Marcus flashing at me brings back all sorts of fun memories. I had a HUGE crush on him when I was in 4th Grade. I think it was in 4th Grade. He was on Square Pegs. And he was the reason I stayed up to watch Star Trek II. And I swear he checks out the hot young Spock on the Genesis Planet in Star Trek III. Or it could just be me. I also had this tv movie with him called 'In the Dead of Night' or something like that, and he was in Fright Night 2. And Next Generation of course.

I'll stop now. lol

 

[Praetor]

Don't feel bad. I've developed a renewed crush on him of late myself. See my thread here for proof.

 

[neogothboy74]

Don't feel bad. I've developed a renewed crush on him of late myself.

I don't blame you one bit. lol. Anytime I rewatch the movies it all comes rushing back.

 

[Praetor]

He was the object of the first male crush I can remember having on a celebrity (or anyone, for that matter) as a kid, so it's also very nostalgic in that regard.

Incidently, does anyone think it would have made a difference to Seven if she had been a former Starfleet officer, perhaps even one from Wolf 359 a la Riley Frazier in 'Unity'? In that scenario she might have just been a Borg so long it wouldn't be easy for her like Picard, or possibly she even liked being a member of the collective?

 

[neogothboy74]

Incidently, does anyone think it would have made a difference to Seven if she had been a former Starfleet officer, perhaps even one from Wolf 359 a la Riley Finn in 'Unity'?

Um...Buffy's army boy ex was in Starfleet? And was assimilated?

 

[Praetor]

Okay okay, Riley Frazier. One barely memorable love-interest substituted for another. My bad.

Smarty-pants.

 

[teya]

To you and to the people who are familiar with 'Voyager,' my friend.

Not *all* the people who are familiar with Voyager.

 

[Praetor]

Edited. Better?

 

[teya]

Edited. Better?

Better.

 

[KimMH]

Beautiful woman - talented actress - and in classic hollywood triple threat style musical to boot - wasn't one of Gene Rodenberry's criterion that his actors had to be able to sing or play? I like the way they developed her along with the classic ST theme "what does it mean to be human et al;" but I tired of it being all Seven all the time. I agree that Seven/Chakotay was heinous. It may have been cuter for her and the Doc to pair eventually. They could perform um, maintenaince on each other for years . . .

 

[Seven of Five]

I did like Seven to some extent. She was better developed than Harry, Tuvok, Neelix or Chakotay, but really her development was at the expense of those. In season 4 I was really tired of Seven, and I hoped that other characters would be allowed to have some of their focus back. This did happen to some extent in seasons five and six, but by the time the seventh rolled around the writers were having her repeat lessons of humanity that she had already supposedly learned.

'Human Error' was a bad Seven episode, in retrospect. It's nice to see her in the holodeck wanting to express emotions, develop relationships and so on. The writers decided to make her more of a 'tragic' person though by giving her a medical condition that stopped her from having strong emotion, putting her back to square one. Really, in the show's final season, should they be avoiding development like that? It left a sour taste in my mouth, especially with the relationship with Chakotay in 'Endgame.' Season Seven was definately the EMH's year.

 

[JustKate]

I voted for the third option. I do think she was a compelling character and a good addition to the show, but as other people have pointed out, she was overused to the detriment of the other characters, to the extent that her character was sometimes even a bit boring. This wasn't Ryan's fault, but there it was. As the seasons scrolled by, I found myself thinking pretty darned often, "Oh, jeez, it's going to be another Seven episode." I never had that reaction with Data or Spock, to mention a couple of other fish-out-of-water characters, and I shouldn't have had it with Seven, either.

As an aside, I didn't like the catsuit either, but the wardrobe decision that really bothered me were those stupid high-heeled boots. A former drone might decide to wear a catsuit, I guess - it stays out of your way, and it's practical unless you need to urinate - but nobody as practical as Seven (nobody in her right mind, actually) would voluntarily choose to wear high heels while clomping around a starship day after day after day.

 

[Praetor]

I voted for the third option. I do think she was a compelling character and a good addition to the show, but as other people have pointed out, she was overused to the detriment of the other characters, to the extent that her character was sometimes even a bit boring. This wasn't Ryan's fault, but there it was. As the seasons scrolled by, I found myself thinking pretty darned often, "Oh, jeez, it's going to be another Seven episode." I never had that reaction with Data or Spock, to mention a couple other fish-out-of-water characters, and I shouldn't have had it with Seven, either.

Yeah, I think this is what motivated me to start this thread. It really sucks when an episode starts and you cringe. I voted for option two, but you're right she was just plain overused.

As an aside, I didn't like the catsuit either, but the wardrobe decision that really bothered me were those stupid high-heeled boots. A former drone might decide to wear a catsuit, I guess - it stays out of your way, and it's practical unless you need to urinate - but nobody as practical as Seven (nobody in her right mind, actually) would voluntarily choose to wear high heels while clomping around a starship day after day after day.

The heels are the one part of the costume that I just don't know how you can justify in any way, unless you presume the Doc said, 'hey, Seven, wear this' and she just never questioned it?