The character of Kes Star Trek: Voyager, portrayed by actress Jennifer Lien left the series after season 3, even though she was a central and interesting character. Premiering in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager hoped to usher in a new generation of fans after Jean-Luc Picard's time on the small screen came to an end. In a unique twist, Captain Janeway's Starfleet vessel finds itself lost in the Delta Quadrant, and the Voyager crew aren't seeking new worlds and new civilizations, but a way home. Among Star Trek: Voyager's main cast was Jennifer Lien as Kes. A member of the Ocampa species, Kes possessed telepathic abilities and was romantically involved with Neelix initially, before breaking off the entanglement in season 3. In a further alien quirk, Kes was tragically destined for a lifespan of only nine years.
As a young but prodigiously talented member of the Voyager crew, Kes shared certain traits with Wil Wheaton's Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation, and although fans didn't react with quite the same disdain as they did for poor Wes, Kes certainly wasn't the most popular of Star Trek: Voyager's crew. Jennifer Lien's exit came in season 4's "The Gift," after Kes' psychic abilities began spiraling out of control following an encounter with Species 8472. Threatening the very crewmates she had come to love, the Ocampa decides to leave Voyager, evaporating into pure energy and leaving Kes' fate somewhat ambiguous.
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She may not have been a fan favorite, but Kes' Star Trek: Voyager exit wasn't without controversy, as both viewers and fellow cast members had praised Lien's ability as an actress, if not necessarily the development of Kes as a character. There are two main reasons Kes was written out of Star Trek: Voyager. Firstly, the writers recognized they'd dropped the ball with the character. Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor (Star Trek: Voyager showrunners) have admitted in interviews that the Neelix/Kes romance angle was ill-judged and, despite Lien's best efforts, Voyager had reached a creative dead end with Kes and her unique biology.
Simultaneously, Star Trek: Voyager had designs to introduce a new main crew member - a female Borg-in-recovery by the name Seven of Nine. With Lien's position in Star Trek: Voyager already under scrutiny and budgets not accommodating a new character without sacrificing another, the decision was taken to replace Jennifer Lien's Kes with Jeri Ryan's Seven of Nine. Another name in the firing line between Star Trek: Voyager seasons 3 and 4 was Garrett Wang, who played Harry Kim. In a quirk of fate, Wang was voted one of People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People In The World," and this exposure spared him the chop in lieu of Lien.
Given how apologetically writers and producers have spoken about Kes' Star Trek: Voyager departure over the years, it's no surprise that the character was soon invited back for season 6's "Fury" episode. In this time-twisting tale, an older Kes attacks Voyager for abandoning her, then travels back in time to prevent her younger self from ever joining its crew. When the older Kes is killed in the past, her timeline is changed, giving Janeway, Tuvok, and Neelix an opportunity to peacefully send Kes home to be with her own kind. Though not quite recompense for her character's mishandling, "Fury" did offer Kes, and Jennifer Lien as an actress, a measure of redemption. Although Lien would appear as Davina in American History X and Agent L in Men in Black: The Animated Series, she quit acting soon after leaving Star Trek: Voyager, and pursued an entirely different career away from the entertainment industry.
Writing Kes out of Star Trek: Voyager was very much a double-edged sword. On one hand, the character had enormous potential that went unrealized due to poor creative direction; on the other, producers were justified in judging Kes to be one of their less successful creations, whereas Seven of Nine proved an inspired addition. The former Borg made a huge impression not just in Voyager, but Star Trek as a whole, and most recently returned in Star Trek: Picard. In an ideal scenario, Star Trek: Voyager would've been able to retain Kes while still introducing Seven of Nine, but then the packed-out cast might've hampered both.
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