Summary
- Jennifer Lien's departure from Star Trek: Voyager was due to creative limitations and the ill-judged romance angle between Kes and Neelix.
- Kes's short lifespan as an Ocampa limited the storytelling possibilities for her character, contributing to her departure from the show.
- Despite the controversy surrounding Kes's exit, her character was given a measure of redemption in a later episode, while Seven of Nine became a beloved addition to the series.
Jennifer Lien left Star Trek: Voyager after playing Kes for three seasons, even though Kes was a central and interesting character. Premiering in 1995, Star Trek: Voyager ushered in a new generation of fans after Star Trek: The Next Generation came to an end. In a unique twist, Captain Janeway's (Kate Mulgrew) starship USS Voyager found itself lost in the Delta Quadrant, and embarked on a years-long voyage home. As Kes, Lien was a Star Trek: Voyager series regular. A member of the Ocampa species, Kes possessed telepathic abilities and was romantically involved with Neelix (Ethan Phillips) initially, before breaking off the entanglement in Star Trek: Voyager season 3.
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. 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.
Why Jennifer Lien's Kes Left Star Trek: Voyager
Showrunners, Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor 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.
Both viewers and fellow cast members praised Jennifer Lien's acting talent, if not necessarily the development of Kes as a character, and Kes' Star Trek: Voyager exit wasn't without controversy. There were several factors that contributed to Kes's departure from Star Trek: Voyager. Showrunners, Rick Berman and Jeri Taylor 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. As an Ocampa, Kes had a tragically short lifespan of only nine years, which limited the story possibilities for her character. In the 2020 book, Star Trek Voyager: A Celebration, authors Ben Robinson and Mark Wright offered another reason for her departure, claiming that Jennifer Lien suffered from mental health issues that began to impact her performance as Kes.
Given how apologetically writers and producers have spoken about Kes' departure from Star Trek: Voyager over the years, it's no surprise that the character was soon invited back for season 6's "Fury." 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 Captain Janeway, Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ), 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.
Voyager Replaced Kes With Seven Of Nine
Star Trek: Voyager introduced a new character at the end of season 3: a female Borg-in-recovery named Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). 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 Kes with 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" in 1997, and this exposure spared him the chop in lieu of Lien.
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 on the Star Trek franchise as a whole. Seven of Nine even became Captain of the newly rechristened USS Enterprise-G in Star Trek: Picard season 3. In an ideal scenario, Star Trek: Voyager would've been able to retain Kes while still introducing Seven of Nine, but the packed-out cast might then have hampered both characters' stories.
Could Kes Return In Star Trek: Prodigy?
While Star Trek: Prodigy has seen the return of some of the characters from Star Trek: Voyager, it seems unlikely that Kes would appear again. Jennifer Lien quit acting soon after leaving Star Trek: Voyager, though she did go on to appear as Davina in American History X and Agent L in Men in Black: The Animated Series. Since leaving acting, Lien has unfortunately continued to struggle with mental illness and was arrested several times between 2015 and 2018. She rarely does convention appearances and seems to have moved on from acting altogether. Lien does have experience voicing an animated character from her time on Men in Black, though, so anything is possible in regards to voicing Kes in Star Trek: Prodigy. Regardless, Jennifer Lien will always have a place within the Star Trek fandom as Star Trek: Voyager's sweet Kes.