Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Seven Of Nine
Seven Of Nine, Tertiary Adjunct Of Unimatrix Zero One, We Hardly Knew You.
There is no questioning the fact that Seven of Nine saved Star Trek: Voyager as it went into its fourth season. That is not to say that the show was terrible by any means. Like almost every Star Trek series in existence, Voyager struggled to find its feet in the beginning. In the increasingly cutthroat wars of ratings (just ask Enterprise) - the producers of Voyager knew they needed to shake things up.
At the expense of Jennifer Lien and the character Kes, Jeri Ryan was hired and Seven was created. Much like the inspiration for T'Pol a little later on, Seven was created with a very specific reason in mind: get the young men on board and watch those ratings soar.
Well, they may not have soared, but they certainly stabilized, with Voyager surviving an additional four years after Seven's arrival. She has returned as a recurring character on Star Trek: Picard, a testament to the enduring strength that came about almost accidentally. It is certainly fair to say that Brannon Braga and Rick Berman had not planned on a long shelf-life for the former Drone. But what exactly did they have in mind?
10. Susan Gibney Was Turned Down For The Part
Susan Gibney is best known to Star Trek fans for one of two roles - Dr. Leah Brahms, one of the original designers of the Enterprise-D, and complicated love interest of Geordi LaForge. She is also recognisable as Captain Erica Benteen of the USS Lakota, from Deep Space Nine.
She also auditioned for the part of Captain Janeway, receiving a screen test after Genevieve Bujold left the role. Though she would lose out on the part to Kate Mulgrew, with Gibney deemed too young to lead a show, she was invited back to audition for the part of Seven. Unfortunately, her youth once again went against her.
Though she has only appeared on-screen in four episodes of Star Trek to date, her character may yet see a return in Star Trek: Picard. She is said to be working at the Daystrom Institute, the workplace of Dr. Agnes Juratti. In at least one possible future, LaForge had married Dr. Brahms, so depending on which timeline the show exists in, there is still an outside chance of Gibney returning to the show - alongside Jeri Ryan's Seven as well.