Now this is an EXCELLENT idea!I personally think it would have been a great idea to have Samantha Wildman be the character that was killed off in the episode "Friendship One" instead of Joe Carey. The whole point of killing off a character in that episode was for it to be one we, as the audience, were familiar with and not another nameless red shirt. Carey only appeared in three episodes after Season One, including this one. The audience was much more familiar with Samantha Wildman. Also, with her officially out of the picture, it would be most natural for Neelix to become Naomi's guadian. Given that Neelix left the ship a few episodes later, the next logical choice for a guardian would have been Naomi's best friend, Seven. It certainly would have done a lot to develop Seven's character if she suddenly found herself needing to be a full-time mother. A lot more so than that romance-out-of-nowhere with Chakotay.![]()
It would have provided much greater scope for character development and drama, not only onboard the ship, but after they returned to the Alpha Quadrant. After all, who would Naomi want to live with - her friend/older sister-figure/teacher, Seven... or the father she never met?
A more accurate question: who would Naomi want to live with - her friend/older sister-figure/teacher, Seven... or...........Neelix?![]()
Neelix moved onto fresh prey.