VOY Needed More Seska

[2takesfrakes]

Seska's treachery was overblown and over-the-top, at times, but her love for Chakotay, for example, was quite a thing to see. She really could not get enough of that Man, despite her having also been, somewhat, disappointed in him, later on. She even tried to impregnate herself with his DNA, to entrap him! Whatever Chakotay was selling, Seska was definitely buying it, but having her off of the ship ― one way, or the other ― was eventually inevitable. But killing her off, just to pave the way for Seven of Nine's commandeering the show, was a very bad decision, I say. How about you? Do you feel that Voyager needed more Seska?

 

[MulgrewFanatic]

I just absolutely hated the woman and couldn't wait for her scenes to be over. I'm not sure if it was her acting, or the writing, or if they just did a good job of making me hate her, but I couldn't wait for her story archs to end. The only one that really intrigued me was where she had manipulated that holoprogram.

 

[Seven of Five]

I completely agree. I loved Seska and it's a shame she didn't end up back on Voyager somehow after they left Kazon space. She could have ended up in the brig like Sudar at first, until perhaps becoming more trusted? Or she could have remained an antagonist, and perhaps become obsessed with Janeway somehow, and continually followed the ship?

Her death certainly left Chakotay with no purpose. I think not making Seska's baby his as well was a bad move. Even if they wanted Seska dead they could have had the baby live and let Chakotay be a father.

 

[stardream]

I am sort of half and half with this. I like the idea of Seska being a re-occurring villain but I could do without the Kazon. I suppose she could still have followed Voyager, showing up from time to time, taunting Chakotay and Janeway as she hooked up with other alien races to torment Voyager.

But about that time there was a shift in the production staff and they wanted to show that Voyager was actually...you know...moving so they had to leave Kazon space behind and they also wanted to cut all ties with the first two seasons. That's why they don't revisit the whole Caretaker thread again. That's also why the baby wasn't Chakotay's. They just wanted to make a clean break and move on.

Season 2 was basically Chakotay's season and after that...he didn't get a lot to do.

 

[Sophie74656]

Seska leaving had absolutely nothing to do with Seven.

I did like Seska and thought she was a great villian. I love the episode after she's dead where Tom and Tuvok are trapped on the holodeck with her crazy program. It might have been interesting to see later on some issue because of her, like maybe some computer failure due to a virus she left or something.

 

[Finn]

Perhaps, Seska escaped with Cullah and later on learns of a wormhole far from Voyager's route but still in Kazon's neighborhood and ends up bumping into Voyager a few years down the road.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Seska leaving had absolutely nothing to do with Seven.

It seems that way, though, doesn't it? I mean ... even if it wasn't the case, Seska was very cool and she threatened to steal Seven's limelight, did she not? Either way, she bookended Season 3, which is kind of interesting and a show of how fun a character that she was, bringing her back from the grave, even if was as a holograph.

"Basics" also made it a point to kill off another cool character, who might threaten Seven's perceived awesomeness, and that would be Souder, of course. "They" cut both shits short, on the S names to make way for the only S name they wanted to be associated with any Cool Factor. Give the fans a Season without them, to provide some breathing room and there you go ...

 

[Finn]

^Seska died in the first episode of season 3....long before they reached Borg space.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Right ... perhaps, because, had she lived, then she'd be competing with 7 -- possibly even hurting her approval ratings.

 

[Paradise City]

Hackett does a good job and Seska herself is a good character. She had her wings kinda clipped by some knock-off Klingons to whom she has to be kinda nice to. That's a bit underwhelming. If she could come into contact with some well developed villains, that would've been cool. .

 

[Six of Twelve]

I can't think of any character I disliked more in all the Treks than her, with the exception of Q. I found her to be a totally obnoxious character. Come to think of it , Vash was pretty obnoxious, too, and a user to boot.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Hackett does a good job and Seska herself is a good character. She had her wings kinda clipped by some knock-off Klingons to whom she has to be kinda nice to. That's a bit underwhelming. If she could come into contact with some well developed villains, that would've been cool. .

The problem with giving Seska impressive sidekicks is that VOYAGER would've, likely, seemed small potatoes. VOYAGER always needs and needs and needs. Truly Badassed Aliens might need more convincing than even Seska's capable of, to keep harassing the living shit out of them. Maybe ... Seska could've come across a small android facility that was shot up by raiders ... scavenged and then abandoned. She might've been able to reactivate a handful of androids she could control and maybe now, she both has a reason to keep after VOYAGER and a powerful clique to do her dirty deeds?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Seska's treachery was overblown and over-the-top, at times, but her love for Chakotay, for example, was quite a thing to see.

Love? What love? Seems obvious Seska never actually loved Chakotay, and was just using him - like she used everyone else - the whole time.

Hell, I'm not sure Seska was even capable of love.

 

[2takesfrakes]

The problem you have with that is that if you go to ten completely random people and ask them what Love is, it's not beyond possibility that you'll get entirely different answers from all of them. Did Seska use people? Yes. Might that have included Chakotay? Yes. But, again, as with the Love thing, there's use in all kinds of relationships. Would you have the friendships you do, if you got nothing from it? Would you be in the relationship you're in if you got nothing out of it? There's always some kind of use involved. Was Seska even capable of Love? I don't know ... I don't KNOW!!! Maybe she wasn't capable of being in a 'normal' or 'healthy' relationship, but to whatever extent she was capable, she probably did with Chakotay. It's very, very hard to be definite about made-up people, but they had a rapport that seemed to suggest that it transcended purely servile use. They were in love ... by someone's definition.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ No. I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Seska did not genuinely love Chakotay - I got absolutely NO indication that she had any real feelings for him. She was manipulative and evil, and Chak was just one of the victims of that. She didn't love Chak, or Culluh (although Culluh did seem to have feelings for her - he seemed genuinely distressed at her death), or anyone else.

Seska was the Trek equivalent of Nicole Wallace from Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Well ... you might even be entirely right with your assessment. But, I was touched, seeing Chakotay tenderly draping her over with her death shroud. Whether he believed she outright used him, nothing more, or if they shared a deeper feeling, he seemed to be deeply moved, by her passing. So, I'm under the impression, at least, that he believed she did Love him ... and not a little bit.

 

[CorporalClegg]

Seska was the best thing Voyager ever did, and Hackett played her brilliantly. Unfortunately, (like many things on the show) her depth and potential exceeded her station.

 

[2takesfrakes]

You know, it's so easy to label Seska as Eeeeeeeevil, but - like Annie Skywalker - she, too, had good in her. Ha! Yes! Let's talk about GOOD, here, for a minute, OK? Like Annie's pure as New York Snow & Secret Wife Padme Amadala, who gives birth to twins and then ups and dies, having "lost the will to live" for no reason a bunch of poorly-rendered CGI puppets can figure out. Other than, maybe, she just doesn't want the responsibility. And who's she giving them to? Her husband, the Yeungling-Killer? To the Jedi, who are in Season for being hunted? Who's going to get these kids - or did she not care about that?

Seska ... though ... Seska takes care of her baby. She even brings him to the EMH, to make damn sure he's healthy and we see her burping him and rocking him and all those things mothers are supposed to do. The point is ... she sticks around! Not that we expect to reward her for it, just saying that she's not the kind to up and die, on a whim, just to get out of dealing with it. Though she DID die, eventually - yes, but more accurately, she was killed. See ... there's a difference. She didn't want to die.

Wait! You know ... in Padme's case, we're just trusting the word of a CGI puppet that she's dying for no medical reason. Is that facility even sterile? We see Kenobi wandering in and out in his filthy rags. What CGI Yoda might've dragged in, only ILM can say. And nobody says a word, not a WORD about it. Hey! It's OK! Come right in, don't bother wiping your feet off ... no need for a hospital gown ... make sure you paw everything, too!

 

[TonyaLang_SB118]

I

Seska leaving had absolutely nothing to do with Seven.

I did like Seska and thought she was a great villian. I love the episode after she's dead where Tom and Tuvok are trapped on the holodeck with her crazy program. It might have been interesting to see later on some issue because of her, like maybe some computer failure due to a virus she left or something.

I completely agree with you. From what I've seen in several interviews, the idea of the Seven/Chakotay relationship didn't form until the last season. (And I think that's also the reason why their relationship wasn't further explored - which is a pity.)
They had to kill off Seska because they needed a clear end to the whole Kazon thing in Basics part II. To be honest, I was happy when she died, because she was a disgusting person. But from the character perspective, I would've liked to see more of her generally - in season 1, I mean.
Also, an episode (or several) about the baby being older (age four maximum) would've been interesting. And: More Suder!! I really loved his character and was sad when they killed him off.

 

[Catarina]

Sorry hun, I disagree. Seska was a malignant narcissist. She wasn't capable of real love. Only manipulation. She sought out people who she could control because she's truly frail inside. She might have had a glimpse of emotion for our first officer because he saw something she sought from her parents but probably never got. a chance.
She even tantrums like a broken child "When will you stop underestimating me!" it's like she was always berated by her parents (most likely a father figure) and she wanted to control Chakotay by impregnating herself. If you won't stay in this illusion I've created, I'll hoover you in by stealing your DNA!"

She "loved" gullible men who see the best in people because they're easier to manipulate and that gave her the power she craved. And there's probably deeper reasons but I didn't set out to write an expose. How do you do the dash above the 'e' ? :P