Seven Of Nine's Disuse In 'Star Trek: Picard' Merely Symptom of Larger -- Or, Rather, Smaller -- Problem
Longer seasons would offer a chance to get better acquainted with our characters
Monita Mohan this week published a piece in Collider, in which she argues that the character of Seven Of Nine (Jeri Ryan) has been ill-used during this, the final, season of Star Trek: Picard.
And Mohan makes a very persuasive argument, although I would also note that the latest episode, “The Bounty,” actually gave Seven a couple of pivotal — if brief — scenes in which to shine. (Her wistful reminisce of her old crew upon seeing the USS Voyager at the Starfleet Museum was particularly heartwarming.)
I'll let Mohan speak for herself, but this poor use of Seven is actually just a symptom of a larger — or rather, smaller — problem with recent Star Trek series overall.
That being these abbreviated seasons of just 10 to 13 or so episodes per year.
That's literally half or so the size of a season of Star Trek series from decades past.
The result is that the emphasis is necessarily on the overall story arc, and less attention is given to nuanced character development. And supporting players may get none at all.
This is very different from earlier entries in the franchise, which often developed supporting — even minor — characters to great effect.
After all, who can forget the great episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine which grew minor characters like Nog (Aron Eisenberg) into beloved crew members.
Or even episodes of The Next Generation, like “Lower Decks,” which revolved entirely around new and minor characters.
The result established the only twice-seen Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) as one of the most tragic and heroic characters not only of TNG, but the entire franchise.
And Seven Of Nine is hardly the only character from Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard to be regretfully under-developed.
The season introduced us to the, well, fascinating bald Vulcan bridge officer aboard the Titan-A, Lt. T'Veen (Stephanie Czajkowski).
T'Veen, reportedly, is bald because she's actually part Deltan.
We haven't seen a Deltan in canon for more than 40 years, since we were introduced to the species with Lt. Ilia (Persis Khambata) in Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
How intriguing would it be to not only get a chance to actually know a Deltan, but a Deltan/Vulcan hybrid?
Recent Star Trek series have had this almost-cruel habit of dangling in front of us these beautiful characters with seemingly endless potential and then just leaving them there, unrealized.
I'm thinking not only of the ill-fated Commander Airiam (Sara Mitich, Hannah Cheesman), but practically any member of the bridge crew from Star Trek: Discovery.
The ideas, surely, are there. What writers and producers need is simply the ample space to tell these “smaller” stories.
I can almost hear the nay-sayers now, expounding on all the reasons why longer Star Trek seasons couldn't be done today: “Streaming demands season-long plot arcs,” and the ever-popular, “It would cost too much.”
Well, the creatives behind Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have already busted that first paradigm by producing a compelling episodic series, which has become the most popular Star Trek series on today.
As for costs?
Somehow, long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away — sorry, I'm mixing my franchises there — Paramount knew how to produce excellent, 20+ episodes of Star Trek per season on an affordable budget.
Surely someone has TNG-era Trek chief Rick Berman's phone number, and perhaps could take him out to lunch and pick his brain.
We grateful fans would even be willing to pick up the tab for lunch.
Will The Real Spinoff Please Stand Up?
Nature may abhor a vacuum, and — apparently — so does Star Trek.
We fans have been regaled recently by what would seem to be an endless stream of potential spin-off ideas for the next new series in the franchise to fill streaming time on Paramount Plus.
Paramount has been mum on its plans for the franchise, which will otherwise contract in just a few weeks once Star Trek: Picard streams its final episode.
But that hasn't stopped nearly everyone else currently associated with the franchise from offering their two strips of latinum.
If there's any strongest contender, it would have to be the proposed Star Trek: Legacy.
Described as “the next generation of The Next Generation,” the series could focus on Seven Of Nine (Jeri Ryan) moving up to captain the Titan-A or some other capital Starfleet ship, and pull in at least some of the Next Generation cast currently appearing in Season 3 of Picard.
It's certainly caught LeVar Burton's interest, who teased the idea during a recent appearance on former TNG co-star Whoopi Goldberg's talk show, The View.
Jonathan Frakes also wants in, telling Emmy Magazine he’d even want Riker and Troi’s daughter Kestra on board. “I could be like Charlie in Charlie’s Angels, the admiral they check in with,” Frakes suggested.
Ryan also shared a new petition calling for “Star Trek: Legacy” which already has over 10,000 votes. The petition comes from the Popcast channel on YouTube.
And there may be something to the reality of a Legacy spin-off given that even Picard showrunner Terry Matalas is talking about it publicly.
Longtime Trek designer Mike Okuda — who returned to the franchise for Picard — said that he has no inside knowledge about a future series, but suggested that Paramount's interest will likely hinge on viewer engagement with Picard, noting Paramount Plus will pay attention to people who subscribe and watch Picard.
Meanwhile, despite many fans believing that her recent Oscar win would price her out of the Star Trek market, Michelle Yeoh's “Section 31” spin-off is very much alive at some level.
Executive producer Alex Kurtzman told SFX Magazine in a recent interview, “I can tell you that we’re still very excited about Section 31,” adding, “And that’s all I will say.”
However, one potential series which looks pretty much dead is any spinoff pairing Seven Of Nine and Raffi (Michelle Hurd).
As Screen Rant recently pointed out:
While there was a time when many clamored for a spinoff featuring Seven and Raffi, Picard season 3 has indicated the characters may be going in different directions.
This means that if you want to see new Trek anytime soon, join us in watching — and rewatching — the current season of Star Trek: Picard.
And go sign that petition, too.
It's been more than a half-century, but fans saved Star Trek twice before with fan-interest campaigns during the first run of the original series.
And now I believe that this “next generation” of fans can do at least as much.
Hailing frequencies open….
Here's the latest that we've been keeping up with…
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