It’s past time to bring back Harry Kim as a promoted officer

When Star Trek: Voyager wrapped its journey in 2001, Harry Kim was still an ensign.

After seven years aboard Voyager, Harry Kim, played by Garrett Wang, remained an ensign, never receiving a promotion even though Tom Paris was both demoted and repromoted after a lapse in judgement. It was, essentially, a slap in the face to Wang’s character.

Star Trek: Picard showrunner,Terry Matalas, wanted to right this wrong in season three of Star Trek: Picard, but the budget wouldn’t allow it. Fortunately, there are other Star Trek properties that could make this happen without as high of a cost. And it’s time that Voyager fans learn what happened to Kim and whether he has finally achieved the rank of Captain or higher after twenty-two years.

Why it matters if Harry Kim finally gets promoted

We’ve been able to see the futures of Admiral Janeway, Tom Paris, Tuvok, and Seven of Nine, thanks to Star Trek: Lower Decks, Prodigy, and PIcard. The Doctor was a hologram so it’s understandable why we haven’t seen an update on him while Neelix left the ship before it reached home. So we can assume he’s having a good life with the fellow Talaxians he found. So that just leaves Kim out.

So far, we’ve seen nothing of Kim’s future save for the final episode in Voyager’s “Endgame,” which isn’t canon. And leaving his character out of the reunions is essentially saying he didn’t matter or that no one wants to know if he was finally promoted. And that’s not the case. Matalas tried to give justice to Harry, and it’s about time some other Star Trek show gave him the opportunity Star Trek: Picard couldn’t.

Harry Kim deserves to be given a chance to shine aboard a ship of his own or in another type of command position, one that we can see, even if it’s in animation. At this point, even though we’d prefer to see the promoted character, we’d settle for a phone call from Captain Kim.