The character of Kes (Jennifer Lien) in “Star Trek: Voyager” has been controversial from the start. She belonged to a species called Ocampa, which only had a lifespan of nine years. Kes was only two years old in the “Voyager” pilot (Link was 19) and dating Neelix’s character (Ethan Phillips). Many members of the public found it disgusting that a grown man was dating a two-year-old child.
The concept of a fleeting character was intriguing, however. “Star Trek: The Next Generation” ended after seven seasons, and there was every reason to believe that rival “Deep Space Nine” would do the same, so “Voyager” was apparently designed to last a full seven years. During this time, audiences would have seen Kes go from someone who looked 20 years old to someone who looked 90 years old. Trekkies would see Kes mature, age, and die over the course of seven years, all a life in a microcosm. And yes, dear readers, she finally dumped Neelix.
Kes, however, was removed from “Voyager” at the end of its third season. Unlike “Next Generation” before it, “Voyager” struggled to achieve high ratings, so its showrunners were constantly trying to boost their numbers with cheap gimmicks. There was a holographic bikini beach that the cast visited regularly, awkwardly adding half-naked bodies to the show. Then, in a last-ditch effort, Kes was removed from the series and replaced by the catsuit-clad Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). a “Borg baby”, in the words of one of the producers.
Unfortunately, it worked. The “Voyager” writers chose Seven of Nine over Kes, and Seven became, essentially, the new star of the series. Ryan looked like a magazine model and wore a tight corset throughout her tenure on the show. Seven was an interesting character, but it was clear that the “Voyager” showrunners added her for sex appeal reasons. And there it was, all of a sudden, the consciousness of “Voyager” disappeared. Kes was off the show and its whole dynamic changed.
Kes was the conscience of Star Trek: Voyager
Kes, I would argue, was vital to “Star Trek: Voyager” in a way that its showrunners never fully exploited. Unlike Starfleet characters, she was innocent, possessing a natural pacifism and a sense of youthful curiosity. She was the guardian of compassion. Neelix sometimes became jealous when talking to other men, but Kes was clearly forming healthy social relationships. She was also the first character to theorize that the ship’s holographic doctor (Robert Picardo) was alive and encouraged Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) to take peaceful measures whenever Janeway’s initial course of action seemed unnecessarily harsh. Janeway often offered the thunder of the USS Voyager through a difficult scenario. Kes then intervened and reminded him of a gentler path.
Kes has essentially reined in Janeway’s darker impulses. She was the conscience of the series – something that is vital to “Star Trek.” The characters, for the most part, strive to take the most ethical course of action and do the least harm possible. Janeway, although resolute, tended toward abrupt authoritarianism and often took risks she did not need to. Kes, if he had stayed on the show, could have continued to balance Janeway, reminding her to be kind.
Kes was also an essential teacher for the Doctor. The hologram was even younger than Kes, having only recently been activated. Both men observed humanity with an outside eye, trying to determine what human behavior should look like and what they could ideally achieve. Like Data (Brent Spiner) in “Next Generation,” Kes looked at humanity with his own perspective. A hologram and a young alien rising. This could have made for some great stories.
The Voyager writers dropped Kes
However, the “Voyager” writers never fully exploited Kes’ potential. There were too few scenes in which Kes and Janeway could ethically clash. She had the potential to be a permanent counterpart to Janeway and could even have become the second most important character in the series if the writers had exploited her myriad possibilities. At the very least, the dynamic between Kes and the Doctor came across as a good emotional hook. You could see their mutual family affection for each other.
Instead, the writers fell back on soap opera dynamics, inventing a tedious love triangle between Kes, Neelix and Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill). No one, not even the actors, liked this story.
When “Voyager” began to decline in the ratings, the decision was made to remove one of the characters and replace him with a Borg character. Rumors spread that Paramount was choosing between Harry Kim (Garrett Wang) and Kes, but that Wang was spared when he was featured in a notable issue of TV Guide. Kes was absent. In the series’ mythology, Kes’s emerging psychic powers became too powerful and she had to leave the USS Voyager to learn how to control them. In stage Seven of Nine, the aforementioned “Borg babe”.
The dynamic between Janeway and Seven was sharper and more antagonistic. Seven was a more active and resolute character, challenging Janeway’s authority. The writers loved this conflict and exploited it to the fullest. The writers also gave Seven every job possible. She served as a science officer, Borg expert, and supervisor of a new astrometry laboratory. The Doctor took Kes’s lessons and became the teacher, telling Seven everything he knew. Ratings have increased.
It’s a shame that the ploy worked, because “Voyager” lost its philosophical core. For a franchise focused on pacifism, it was a shame to see the most pacifist character in “Voyager” be removed. Seven was good, but Kes should have stayed.
