During November's ST-CHI: Trek To Chicago, Star Trek: Voyager actress Jeri Ryan answered fans' questions in a frank and thoughtful way about her time on the show and the growth of her character, Seven of Nine. During the panel, she credited Brannon Braga for Seven's development. Ryan told the group via TrekMovie.com:
“Basically every word I uttered onVoyager was written or rewritten by Brannon Braga. This was very much his character. She was his vision. She was his baby. She really sort of came fully formed out of his brain and he never made a misstep, really, I think, with the way he developed her."
Ryan continued:
"It was beautifully written. So there was never a moment where I had to go, ‘Oh, I don’t think she would say that.’ Because he knew what her mind was. So I was very lucky with the way she was written.”
Ryan joined the cast of Voyager at the start of season 4. At the same time, the show's fans also bid farewell to Kes, and some weren't sure what to make of a human that still had enough implants to remind people of her former experience as a drone. How could she be trusted? The Borg were one of the most terrifying enemies humanity faced, so how could Seven possibly fit into this crew?
When Braga created this character, it's possible he had former Star Trek series in mind when it came to bringing Seven on board. After all, Star Trek: The Original Series had an alien (Vulcan) and many different races of human beings on board, including Mr. Sulu and Lt. Uhura, who both were essential members of the bridge team.
Star Trek: The Next Generation brought a Klingon on board, something unheard of in an era when the Klingons had been Starfleet's greatest enemy in TOS and even some of the original cast's movies. Over time, though, Worf became such a beloved character that when Next Gen ended, they moved him to Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Seven of Nine's presence reflects the franchise theme of inclusion
Despite the character's sexualization during her introduction (especially in media ads) Seven of Nine continued to mirror the franchise's themes of exploration, especially the human condition. Accepting new ideas and tolerance for others' differences are at the core of Star Trek, and perhaps Braga understood this. Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.