As a Star Trek fan I love telling this story.
Probably the worst case of pandering on “Voyager”…or the entire “Star Trek” franchise was having Seven of Nine rassle The Rock.
Too bad they couldn’t have given Janeway a husband…maybe a short, badly dressed guy who smokes cigars, is absent minded and asks a lot of annoying questions.
They did resolve the conflicts between the crews pretty quickly, making it basically only one crewperson who was a problem. They didn’t get contact with the Federation for a long time, but they did do a lot of TNG-lite episodes. This actually improved when they brought Seven of Nine on board, though, since the show focused on her, and her conflict with the rest of the crew.
And, yeah, they were going to make it a show with limited supplies, but didn’t stick with that, either.
Still, it’s not as bad as people say.
That’s true, and it’s aged a lot better than TOS and TNG and a lot of other science fiction shows.
DS9 is still the best. 
Just one other thing is bothering me about that. It’s probably nothing, but where do you suppose he could find parts for an old Peugeot in the Delta Quadrant?
As I understand it until he was named sexiest man he was the one who was going to leave the show to be replaced by 7.
Janeway became very supportive of 7 of 9 in the later seasons. Encouraging her in her quest to rediscover her humanity. But the characters also clashed because 7 of 9 wanted to do things her own way.
I think 7 of 9’s best episode was a flashback episode where she and a few other Borg get standard on a planet. Cut off from the collective, they begin remembering their lives before assimilation. 7 of 9 freaks out and… turns on them.
I guess it says a lot that any personal issues between Ryan and Mulgrew weren’t noticeable on screen.
Always find it odd when people complain that 7of 9 was too sexy. She looked sexy. But her character was ice cold, aloof, and absolutely nonsexual. I’d hug a shark before I’d hug her.
That’s the limitation of prime-time television. They could make her look as sexual as they wanted but forget about following through with any kind of sexuality. Heck, there was an episode where she bluntly asks Harry if he wanted to “copulate” and he immediately became a shy stammering schoolboy.
But that shark would be the most exciting hug of your life!
Really? I have no dog in this hunt, but I always assumed that 7 of 9 was meant to be the sci-fi/Star Trek version of a “Hitchcock Blonde” - icy, with her hair up, but looking attractive in her business attire - and guys are supposed to think they are the ones who can melt her icy exterior and get her to let her hair down.
You aren’t supposed to hug the shark; you are supposed to be the One Man™ who can turn that shark in to a Real Girl™.
With changing views towards the Male Gaze and objectification of women, I suspect this stereotype will be less used.
In my mind, there’s a sort of utopian-Trek vision that apparently the showrunners and producers can’t quite shake. Pretty much EVERY series, save possibly *Enterprise *suffered from it, including ones that never should have been close to it, like Voyager.
*Voyager *should have been a show where the crew had to eat weird Delta Quadrant food, fix up their ship with weird semi-functional technology, and deal with crew losses and potentially recruiting natives as they go, issues from being so far from home, and the lingering Federation/Maquis conflict that would almost certainly still be fresh for the first season or two.
They had a huge opportunity to have multiple sources of conflict- internal (technology, interpersonal) and external (other races, etc…)
But instead, it became just another Trek show, just set far from home, and with everyone neatly in uniform, and everything neatly fixed and Starfleet-spec. I watched it all the way through, but I can’t say it’s one I think back to or really would care to revisit later, unlike *TNG *or Enterprise.
Back to the thread topic, I’ve heard/seen a few comments on this topic from Ryan, and Mulgrew’s comments about it having “nothing to do” with Ryan personally are bullshit. Mulgrew essentially hazed her and Ryan said she was sick with nerves and dreaded coming in to work for much of her time on Voyager.
She did, however, say it got better once she started dating Brannon Braga.
Which led to, IMVHO, the very very worst episode of Voyager (I saw maybe two dozen of them, randomly.)
Janeway and Chakotay land on planet. J&C come down with evil virus that is not curable and would kill some large portion of the crew. J&C are beamed down a a complete set of survival gear and Voyager sails away. J&C spend several months setting up housekeeping. J&C finally exchange a Meaningful Look… and Voyager rides over the horizon, having found a cure for the virus. Tag has everyone back on the bridge without a second mention of J&C’s months together or the Meaningful Look. Sail into credits.
Jesus. I mean, it was an encapsulated series, but this one tops all others I know of. Just ONE MORE glance between them back on the bridge would have undone the damage.
I hadn’t made this connection before. But, you’re absolutely right. Her character makes much more sense now.
Mulgrew is very lucky they added this character. It gave the show a much needed mid series rating boost. Probably extending the show’s life by at least 2 seasons.
Including the people marketing the show. Her actual role was much more than eye candy, but you wouldn’t have known it from some of the promos they aired.
I’d have to side against Mulgrew on this. Not just in Voyager, but throughout her career she’s never played on her sexuality, and she is definitely attractive (or was). As an actor you’re expected to use everything in your toolbox and, male or female, sexiness is one of those things, so there’s nothing wrong with that. She made Janaway so asexual as to be unlikable. Plus she was so adamant in always being ‘as strong as any male Capt’ and never showing the least bit of feminine vulnerability it made her come across as a secretly unconfident, disingenuous poser. To keep up appearances, rather than ever seem indecisive or cautious, she would make rash, bravado-laden, premature decisions. Which were almost always wrong*!*
Seven of Nine was sexy, but for me she was much more than that. She was the voice of reason amongst idiots. She was the only cast member who I would have had any confidence in when stuck in a survival situation:
[ul]
[li]Chakotay- A well meaning but ultimately useless milquetoast flunky.[/li][li]Harry Kim- A scared little wuss.[/li][li]Tuvok- A full-blooded Vulcan so devoid of any emotion I couldn’t have cared less if he died.[/li][li]Tom Paris- Not only an incompetent and reckless idiot but arrogantly proud of it as well*!*[/li][li]Torres- Exactly what you’d expect from a half Klingon/Human woman: A miserable bitch with constant PMS.[/li][li]Neelix- Star Trek’s goofball neighbor, worthless comedy relief (and ten times dumber than Art Carney’s Ed Norton ever was).[/li][li]The Doctor- Halfway decent character, but again mostly comedy relief, only good in small amounts.[/li][/ul]
Jeri Ryan played a role similar to Jolene Bialok’s T’pol on Enterprise, she was a sexy Spock. And unlike Tuvok, because she was human she slowly became more and more emotional as she de-Borg-ified, but could still make great use of her cold logic.
One thing during the research I learned about Mulgrew that was interesting is that in her first role she got pregnant by one of the shows producers and she gave birth on screen and then she gave up the baby to a catholic adoption agency and was back on set 2 days later. On the show she actually had to keep acting with a “stunt baby” which had to have been somewhat heartbreaking. She apparently regretted the choice almost immediately but the adoption agency would not reveal where the baby was and when she was on voyager she hired 3 private detectives to track her baby down which they eventually did.
Not really related to the op but I wonder if the experience might have been somewhat related to her lack of sexuality onscreen (although she did go on to have two boys so she did have at least some sexuality off-screen)
Sorry the worst episode was when Janeway and Paris were “evolved” into lizards and had babies together.